for: Selling, Kent

Academically, selling is thought of as a part of marketing, however, the two disciplines are completely different. Sales often forms a separate grouping in a corporate structure, employing separate specialist operatives known as salespeople (singular: salesperson). Selling is considered by many to be a sort of persuading "art". Contrary to popular belief, the methodological approach of selling refers to a systematic process of repetitive and measurable milestones, by which a salesperson relates his or her offering of a product or service in return enabling the buyer to achieve their goal in an economic way.

While the sales process refers to a systematic process of repetitive and measurable milestones, the definition of the selling is somewhat ambiguous due to the close nature of advertising, promotion, public relations, and direct marketing.

History

Selling is one of the oldest human activities and it has been recorded in every civilization. The Egyptians build one of the first empires based on trade. Later, during his conquest of much of the east, Alexander the Great was able to open route of trade. Caravans travel from east to west to sale good such as spices, textiles goods, and jewelry in exchange for gold, silver, and other commodities. Less developed societies such as the Tainos, used to trade food item such as fish or casaba for jewelry.

Buying and selling is one of the most pervasive of human activities at its done several times a day. To sell is to give up some of value in exchange for a financial instrument, such as money. Generally speaking, every member of society has something to sell. For example, a worker gives up skills, time, and effort in exchange for a salary. Some people make a living at the selling, often those people are call, salesman, salesperson, sales executives, account executives, etc.

Sales are at the core of every corporation. It is the blood the give life to a company. Sales, finance and Operations are the only functions that are indispensable to a corporation. Every other role is considered support. The top person at a company is usually the CEO, who is also the top salesperson who is responsible to sales the company to potential investors and customers. The CFO is responsible for finances and usually gets involve in negotiations with financial institution and potential vendors. COO is responsible for operations. Support roles such as HR, Marketing, and Administration are now more integrated in the sales organization. For example, in professional services organization, a key to succeed in sales laid in the relationship with the HR organization. Just like a shipping companies depend on improvement in operations and logistics to make their services more attractive.

Selling is the profession-wide term, much like marketing defines a profession. Recently, attempts have been made to clearly understand who is in the sales profession, and who is not. There are many articles looking at marketing, advertising, promotions, and even public relations as ways to create a unique transaction.