What is Wrong With Sales?

Many people have a very negative opinion of sales positions. I guess they can't shake the image of becoming Willy Lowman. I can't even remember what Willy sold, it must not have been a great product.

I'll confess, during my job search I avoided all positions that had sales written on them. But the more I think about what is involved in sales, the more I realize that it is often the most important part of a business. Sales means expansion, sales means growth.

As I listened to another one of the Stanford Entrepreneurial Podcasts, I was struck by how frequently the speaker's advice could be followed by taking a sales role. One of the main points of several speeches was, "get in a customer facing role." In other words, put yourself in the position to deal with the client or customer as much as possible. What better way to do this than sales. What better way to shore up your persuasive abilities and on-the-spot small talk than approaching people that don't want to talk to you.

The role of most top executives can be described as sales. The exec that maintains the best relationships and sells the most product/business is going to end up on top.

As usual I want to refer back to the idea that "you are your greatest asset." The idea that you are your own company, complete with your own marketing, finance, sales, and core competencies. So, don't let the sales stereotype bring you down.