What we talk about when we talk about selling
Those of you that are familiar with contemporary literature may have noticed that the title is inspired from one of the many great books of Murakami, that one specifically was about running, but not really, as he fuses his obsession with marathons with the story of his life. Masterpiece. This article wants just to outline some considerations on what we mean with the transitive verb "to sell". Surprisingly, the initial definition on Merriam Webster has somehow negative connotates, it defines it in fact in this way: to deliver or give up in violation of duty, trust, or loyalty and especially for personal gain (such as "betray"), often used with "out" such as in the expression "sell out their country". Yes, this is the very first definition they give. Moreover within the second definition from bullet point b onwards we have "to give up in return for something else especially foolishly or dishonorably", "to deliver into slavery for money", "to dispose of or manage for profit instead of in accordance with conscience, justice, or duty", "to impose on, to cheat"! Among all these stigmas however we can also find a more rational "to give up (property) to another for something of value (such as money)". With all due respect, I don't believe anyone of the above descriptions truly captures the meaning of sales.
People end up in sales positions for a great number of reasons, it could be necessity, opportunity, someone by genuine vocation, plus, up until now at least, sales jobs have always been in growing demand across businesses. In the chart above we can see the total number in 1,000s of sales, marketing and related associate professionals in the UK from 2011 to 2020 (source: Statista.com), trends elswhere in the West are similar and if we take into account the proportion of sales professionals with a Linkedin account, we can easily estimate the existence of about 20 million sales people around the world, about ten thousand times the number of people employeed by Merriam Webster... Now, talking about ethics, there has always been some sort of moral stigma attached to the profession, not sure why, but it can be guessed that being at the forefront of relationships between businesses and individuals, the sales person is more likely to be judged, more likely to be caught in moral fault and finally, more likely to be misunderstood. This villain profile may also have arised from popular culture such as the way sales people are stereotyped in movies, think about Glengarry Glen Ross, The Wolf of Wall Street, Lord of War, Margin Call and Boiler Room. Definitely fewer are the opposite examples such as Pursuit of Happiness and maybe Jerry Maguire. Anybody can lie, manipulate or be deceptive, but in any field which a person choose to be in, being a successful professional, a long term asset for an employer, for its customers and community means something totally different. On top of that, the mere fact that the word "sales" appears on its job description could lead to a massive misconception of what the job characteristics really are as in fact are in no way confined to pure sales but, among other essential skills, must include negotiation, problem solving and yes, empathy.
In a world that quickly gets digitalised and pulls away from human contact, sales people still represent an important link within the business community. According to Salesforce's State of Sales 2020 report, the increased importance of long-term customer relationships in the present economic conditions was reported by 86% of sales reps, while the increased importance of building trust before and after a sale was recognized by 83% and 80% of reps respectively (source: Forbes). "Trust" is the key word and trust is built around the ability to uncover hidden needs towards a fruitful long term relationship, this would be impossible without a high level of transparency between parts. In my personal experience I almost exclusively came across professionals that adopt fully this approach. I recall significative moments in my career when it has been ideal giving up sales rather than create an issue for the customer or prospect, and others moments when, as a relatively young sales rep, asking advice to my senior and older colleagues led often to the very specific answer "do never lie". Virtuous cycles always start this way, naturally repositioning the thought process within a customer-centric context while modelling a judge-free environment in which any kind of tension is being taken off the table in order to reach an optimal result for both buyers and sellers. The practice of open dialogue also helps overcoming potential threats and sudden misunderstandings ahead.
As sales people the word "no" is something we came across pretty often, at least at the beginning of our careers, therefore we are not easily offended or demotivated. However, it is quite astounding that there is still some blame attached to the concept of selling, especially when it takes an official form within leading online dictionaries. Semantics are a funny game as any organisation with a bit of following can subvert them in time, think about the terms "peace-keeping mission" to define a war, or "democracy" to stand for.. well I'm not sure.. but it seems that some extreme form of moralism is spreading in cycles and getting slightly out of hand. The act of selling is something more than personal interest, it implies the act of buying and human interaction with all its complexities and nuances. Afterall newborns sell their silence in exchange for the pacifier as perhaps Merriam Webster sells new meanings in exchange for indignant followers. The great majority of the sales pro community will keep selling as usual, empathically, trying the hardest to build something beyond basic revenue and market share, they normally follow suit.
