Here's something I've never quite figured out how to explain at a dinner party.
When someone asks what I do and I tell them, there's a specific face people make. Not always, but often enough that I've started to expect it. A slight recalibration. A reassessment. Like I've just told them something mildly concerning and they're deciding how to feel about it.
Sales has a reputation problem. Not the profession exactly — everyone understands it's necessary, they're not confused about that — but the skill. The idea that you're good at it. That you've spent years developing it. That carries a whiff of something that makes people uncomfortable, and I think it's worth being honest about what that is.
The Assumption
The assumption seems to be that being skilled at sales means being skilled at making people do things against their interests. That the craft is manipulation. That if you're effective, someone somewhere is getting taken advantage of.
I've thought about this a lot. Pa