Emma's article got me thinking....

What is sales?

Where is it in the grand scheme of things? A job? A profession? An industry? A trade?

What is law? What is medicine?

Take medicine as an example. Medicine is what doctors practice, but don't nurses, medical technicians also work in the medical field? So, how do nurses, techs and doctors all fit together.

Reminds me of a joke.

A man dies & goes to Heaven.

Upon arriving at the Pearly Gates he is told "Welcome to Heaven, everyone is equal here." The man is then given a tour of Heaven and finds that it is indeed true.

The man decides he's just got to try the food & goes & stands in the cafeteria line. While waiting, a man in green scrubs goes rushing to the front of the line & gets his food ahead of all the others.

"Hey, I thought everyone is equal here. Why did he cut line?"

"Oh, him?" says St Peter, "That's God, he thinks he's a surgeon."

So, back to the topic. Med techs and nurse are key players in medicine. However, sometimes they go to school to become doctors. Have you ever heard of a doctor becoming a med tech?

In a law firm, there are law partners, associate lawyers, legal secretaries and other administrative personnel. Are they all in the legal profession? Are they all practicing law? We could probably argue that everyone at the firm is there to support the trial lawyer. We may also be able to make a case that they're there to support the RainMaker.

So, Emma, maybe some salespeople become Business owners, Operations managers, Consultants, Business/corporate strategists, Retail salespeople or Marketing specialists as you suggest. Do you think it's because sales is a stepping stone or is it because not everybody can do it? Not everyone can be a surgeon. Not everyone can be a lawyer. Not everyone can sell?

How many people work at Hubspot? How many can do what Greg Brown does, or Dan Tyre or Pete Caputa? Do you think that they think that sales is a transitory role? How many of your marketing specialists wish they could do what Caputa did and continues to do?

Everybody at some point in their life needs a doctor. They may talk to and interact with nurses and other medical support people, but the doctor is the person that they need. All businesses use a lawyer at some point. They may deal with other people in the legal profession, but the lawyer is the one that they need.

I suggest that there's a 'doing business' field or profession. The profession gets customers and although there may be a bevy of other people working in the 'doing business' field, until the salespeople do their thing, there are no customers.

That's why sales enablement is so important. Start today!