The “Everybody is in Sales” Philosophy
There are a number of reasons that “Everybody is in Sales” philosophy has become mainstream thinking for CEOs and their Executive Team.
First: There has been a lot of research in this subject by Charles Swab, the Ziglar institute and Dan Pink. In Dan’s book, “To Sell is Human” he claims that 1 in 9 of us have sales in our title; VP Sales, Sales Manager, Sales Director, Sales Rep, etc. and the other 9 of us are in sales also. We are:
- Selling ourselves
- Selling our ideas
- Selling to our boss
- The boss is selling to us
- We are selling to the bank to get more capital
- The bank is selling to us to get our business
So we are all in sales.
Second: More and more sales are technology based. Buyers would much rather talk to a SME with deep technical expertise than to a salesperson who is trying to sell them something.
Third: Because of the wide participation in social media, more people in the company are interacting with customers and prospects.
Fourth: All conversations any of our associates have with customers and prospects either enhance or detract from their impression of our company. There are very few neutral conversations.
Fifth: Many of the fundamental sales skills taught to salespeople such as:
- How to build rapport
- How to read body language
- How to be a perfect listener
- And how to expertly describe the company’s offerings apply to any associate who interacts with a customer or prospect.
Sixth: In the last ten years, we have learned so much about emotional intelligence and how important it is for all human interactions.
Seventh: Because of all these reasons, CEOs are learning that embracing the “Everybody is in Sales” philosophy gives them a strong competitive advantage.
Get Everyone on the Team into Sales
For more information on getting your entire team ‘in sales’, please contact us to learn about our sales training seminars and sales training customized for your business.
