User:Knoweth

Perception of Sales as a Profession

Sales, as a profession, is a fascinating topic. One proof source can be traced all the way back to Socrates and his scribed book, the title of which I beleive was translated into English as; REDIRECT. It is this technique, the one first mastered by Socrates and his student Plato, that is the basis of sales and what sales professionals do.

And, of course, no less intriguing are the people who practice this profession. They are likened to "used car salesman" and still they do what they do proudly and for good reason, as is explained below.

Part of the reason why sales, salesmanship and sales professionals are so interesting is the public perception of what they do and how too many malign sales people as bad, untrustworthy or even slimy! The general perception is caused by the behavior of those who were not properly trained - by poor examples of the profession. And, while there are many more bad sales people than those who would begin to impress Socrates and earn the right to be called professionals, this does not mean that the profession is any less critical in society.

If you think about it, no product can be moved out of inventory unless it is sold. And, while you may say "Yes but much of what is bought was sold via retail sales" as if to suggest that a professional sales person was not required. And, this argument is granted only with one rather glaring and obvious exception; there are many levels of distribution and before anyone can buy a product at a large retailer, like Wal-Mart or Shoppers Drug Mart, must it not first have been presented to the buyers of those organizations by the manufacturer's or distributor's sales representative?

Professionals who practice the art of influence know why their profession is not correctly perceived and still they love what they do. Even though untrained sales people or those without the ability to be well trained give what they do for careers a bad name they would not do anything else. They know that amateurs do not understand that you don't sell snowballs to Eskimos, that a prospect must have a real need for the product or service you are selling or they are not a prospect. And that influence should only be used to help, not to force a sale but to help a qualified, interested prospect buy something they want, like/love or need.

Ideas are just that until they are sold to buyers or investors. Sales Professionals know that many of the great businesses could not exist unless the founders were great at selling their concept and vision. These businesses that ended up employing many people just would not have gotten off the ground. As proof of this, look at Robert Toru Kiyosaki, who wrote the longest running best selling book in the history of The New York Times best selling list (business paperback category - still ranked third in Nov. '07 more than five years after it was #1!) entitled Rich Dad, Poor Dad strongly suggests in that book that any would be entrepreneur learn to sell.

As arguments like the ones in the paragraphs above are explored, you begin to see the importance of the success of any business and, thereby, the jobs of people working within businesses, who are not in sales, relying on those who make the sale. Every thing must be sold. And, thus, sales people deserve respect.

Those who are in this profession are not held in esteem in general. Executives and other sales people who work within businesses understand the importance of a proven sales producer. These executives also understand that only a small percentage of sales people, perhaps less than 20%, attain a better than acceptable level of sales production, which is the result of treating what they do as a profession. Studying how to find out if the prospective buyer is actually a good prospect and only helping those with real needs understand how what they offer will satisfy that need, whether it be personally or for business.

However, people who have ever dealt with a pushy sales person, perhaps while buying a car or in a retail setting, quite rightly hate the way this not-so-professional sales person made them feel. It is this experience, often passed on from generation to generation and amongst friends, that gives all sales people a bad name. And, this is unfortunate, because without those who sell affectively, there would be far fewer jobs and an economy that struggles greatly!

--Knoweth 14:50, 8 November 2007 (UTC)