In almost every workplace, every employee is also a salesman, otherwise known as a non-sales seller. According to Pink, 40% of our (non-salesperson’s) time is dedicated to non-sales selling. In this, non-sales sellers consider this vital activity to their professional success. While they are not selling the immediate product, they are pulling the strings to create more revenue for the product, discover why people want to buy the product and maintain customer satisfaction (Business Analysis, R&D, Customer Service) respectively. Pink defines this “non-sales selling” as a moving task.
Salespeople are their own entrepreneurs, developing their craft to sell as much as possible, oftentimes using specific tactics to ensure the sale of the product at-hand. In this, this claim can be applied to different aspects to every employee (current or potential), as one has to sell themselves in sometimes numerous interviews, to secure a job to sell something else. Because everyone has sold something, (either themselves or an object) this makes everyone a salesperson, leading to greater elasticity in the workplace environment.
Elasticity’s definition in the sales sense is “stretching employees beyond their specified work niches, and using them in the sales process.” In doing this, companies do not have to teach the soft skills of sales, to ensure that employees operate at a certain level. An example of such is the following: A recruiter contacting a qualified candidate for a certain position, trying to sell their respective company to the candidate, as well as the position at the company.
Personally, I have milled over the process of selling myself for the interviews I have been a part of, but I’ve never seen myself as a salesperson until Sales in the Startup. Going into college, I deliberately chose to not ever choose an internship or job offer where I would be selling something, as I know personally, that I lack the skills required in selling. Now, I have realized that I will be selling something in my potential internship role this summer, that being different processes and implementations to improve company revenue margins (as well as other responsibilities) as a Business Analyst intern and after Grove City College.
BoweryJE22