The Art of Selling

Being in a sales role for a large nationwide wholesaler, I can think of a few things that allowed me to get this job, plenty of work experience, hard work and a never give up attitude.  My degree however taught me very little about the world of Sales and the skills required to sell and negotiate with customers.

The number of subjects you can study at University is endless from golf studies to David Beckham studies, whether these subjects are entirely relevant to your career paths never seems to be an issue. Sales is something that is naturally occurring within our daily lives, but many of us don't know truly understand how to handle put this in to practice in the workplace.

Natural Selling: Sales is one where we are involved in everyday life, but many of us just don't realise it

With many businesses under extraordinary pressure to deliver results and increase margins, sales technique is something that should be preached within all organisations. New business and business development is a highly crucial element in this volatile climate. Having a highly trained sales force plays to many strengths and also an opportunity to increase professionalism.

Then there is the theory of sales, is it something that can be taught? Everyone has a different sales technique depending on the product and the market you are selling in. There may not be one clear defined rule when persuading someone to buy something off you. This could be one of the reasons for the lack of content related to the art of sales & negotiating within my degree course.

The sales field is becoming increasingly complex, the switch from a more hard selling approach to a process of building and maintaining business relationships has become a household name in many organisations. With this change within the business environment it is more evident that soon to be graduates need to be taught how to sell and work within a sales environment.

The question then, does the art of selling fit well within the classroom? It is believed by those in the industry that sales requires practice and real life experiences to be successful. The theory behind however it is some thing that can be taught through workshops and sales training, I believe that if  these elements were included in the course content of a management degree they would complement many other modules such as entrepreneurship giving every graduate the foundations for their future career path.