We all have different jobs to perform – some are in service, some in administration, some in construction – but everyone is in sales whether they realize it or not. If we did a survey, we might find that many people abhor the idea of selling and would never consider themselves salespeople – and yet they are. We all are.
Some people actually wear the name salesperson on the nametag or business card. Others have a different title that has an underlying sales component. There is no getting around it. Everyone is in sales in some form.
Not everyone is in a position to take an order or receive money directly for their company or organization – what may come to mind when the topic of sales is mentioned. Nevertheless, in a broader and more accurate sense, everyone who receives an income must sell in exchange for it.
Clearly, there are people who sell. They prospect for new leads, meet and engage customers, conduct a presentation, answer objections, ask for, and then take an order. Sometimes they are even involved in delivery, installation, or training. No one would deny that this is selling.
What about people in the service industry – OTs, PTs, other medical professionals, designers, or architects, for instance? If there is a product involved, there has to be sales to transfer that product from inventory (in the warehouse or from a supplier) to the consumer (even if that is another provider). When there is a service involved, sales may not seem so obvious.
When there is a service delivered or conveyed to the consumer – such as therapy, design, consultation, an evaluation, or an assessment – the service may not seem to be connected to any part of sales. However, the service had to be sold to the client in some manner. Also, during the delivery or implementation of that service, customer satisfaction is always a focus – again selling – to keep the customer engaged, happy, satisfied, and possibly willing to order more such services or refer them to a friend or relative.
What about organization or non-profits that are funded through grants? Someone had to prepare a proposal and submit it. They had to sell their need, their ability to meet the guidelines of the grant criteria, and that they would deliver the spirit of the grant concept better than organizations that were not chosen for funding – in short, sales.
We need to think of what we do as involving some aspect of sales even if we don’t think we like to sell or don’t consider ourselves to be salespeople. if nothing else, we are selling our clients, customers, strategic partners, and potential clients on our organization and the quality of our solutions. We want them to regard us well and consider that the work we do is beyond parallel. That definitely is selling.
Nevermind that it doesn’t seem like selling or that we don’t want people to think of us as salespeople – because somehow we think that salespeople are pushy or overbearing. There are salespeople who try too hard and push to make a sale when the people they are meeting with show no interest in their product or service, but that’s not what’s going on here.
All of us are involved in sales – some formally and officially, some more quietly.