Wednesday, September 9, 2009

A pat on the back for the sales profession

The reason I have been more infrequent of late on the blog is that my real job has picked up drastically. That, and my effort with regards to my real job has picked up drastically. The two are tightly intertwined, after all, since I am in sales. So when I came across this opinion piece in the Christian Monitor, I couldn't help but feel a little better about myself:

At some level, of course, everyone sells. Authors and academics (if they hope to have impact), the yard guy across the street, the young woman shilling for Greenpeace in front of Target, even President Obama. None of us succeeds without applying the art of influence, in the best sense.

But front-line, all-day salespeople are the connective tissue between what we have and what we need. Their work demands a rare mix of audacity and humility, hope and realism. They take rejection and abuse that would crush the spirits of most. Yet they bounce back with the resilience of Tigger and the patience of Job.

Especially in harder times, selling compels tremendous creativity and a humble heroism. This isn't to say all salespeople are heroes. Some get a bit too creative, while a (very) few are desperately dishonest. But that's not sales. It's fraud.

While political campaigns come and go, salespeople practice the politics of hope every day. They live by faith – faith that someone, somewhere needs what they have.

Critics accuse politicians of being salespeople. If only that were true: Good salespeople can actually explain what they're trying to sell.

So bravo to JP, Loathsome, and the other salespeople on here. Someone somewhere appreciates what we do.

2 comments:

Lumbee said...

Nice blog. As a fellow salesperson I echo your sentiments. My favorite is the last line in your quote about the politicians.

Loathsome said...

I will accept your bravo, and return the favor. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go sell something.