With the holiday season upon us, my thoughts always return to the same thing every year. At the risk of sounding syrupy, I am grateful for my four “Fs”—my faith, family and friends, and for living in a country that provides the greatest measure of the fourth F to be found anywhere on the Earth—freedom. As a nation, even in light of the circumstances in which we find ourselves; with considerable challenges and difficulties, we still have so very much to celebrate and be thankful for.
In the spirit of the season, I believe it is long overdue that we recognize one particular group — one profession, to which it is no exaggeration to state that our entire system, indeed, our way of life, depends. Members of this profession have been mocked and maligned — the butt of numerous jokes — for as long, I would say, as relationships between people have existed.
Like anyone who has lived and worked for more than a “few” decades, I’ve had the opportunity to meet and work with a vast numbers of individuals of different professions; many with impressive resumes that include advanced degrees in their particular field — engineers, lawyers, doctors, accountants, educators, psychologists…you get the idea. By their accomplishment in earning their various professional ranks, by definition, all of these individuals have achieved “success.”
And yet, without exception, the degree to which these individuals have been able to use their advanced, specialized knowledge and training in productive ways has always been dependent upon other skills that, to my knowledge, are not included in any curricula of the aforementioned professions.
I am referring, if you haven’t already guessed, to the profession of sales. The act of “selling,” is a relational skill — many would say an art—which everyone possesses in some measure. Every job applicant must “sell” their prospective employer as to why they should get the job as opposed to other applicants, and when your group of friends decide which restaurant you’ll visit for your Friday night gathering, the one you go to will likely be determined by the individual with the most persuasive argument.
While we all possess a measure of sales ability, some have chosen sales to be their vocation — to sales “professionals” it is their passion. The fact is, professional sales people comprise much of the membrane between what is and what will be, as it is through effective selling that every new idea is advanced.
Sales professional ought to be appreciated and held in high esteem. So this holiday season, I pay a special tribute and thanks to sales professionals everywhere. You make all of our lives better for the work you do every day.
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