Who's in Sales?
When you're starting a sales training program, you may feel uncomfortable with the idea of being in sales or marketing. A sales training program should start by discussing the idea of sales, what it means to different people, the best and the worst aspects of sales. We all have ideas, stereotypes of what salespeople are, what they look like, what they sound like, what they wear. And many business people don't think of themselves as salespeople. "Oh, no, I'm a therapist. I'm a financial planner. I'm a coach," they say, because they don't conceive of themselves as someone who sells stuff to others. The first problem with thinking you aren't a sales person is that when you have an opportunity to attend a sales seminar or sales training, you may pass it up, but when you're faced with a customer, you may find you don't know how to talk to him or her.
In your business, if you have any direct contact with a customer, you're in sales whether you think so or not. You may be selling actual products by demonstrating and explaining them – a sales trainer, or you may be selling services by letting people know what those services can do for them – a sales coach! If you're a therapist, you're acting as a sales consultant - selling ideas, and selling your clients on the idea that they can feel better and that you can help them. So in a way, if someone's on the other end of whatever service you provide or product you espouse, you're involved in sales.