Before defining the professional sale. Let’s look at some of the related professions. Below are some definitions of professions/occupations that relate to Wikipedia professional selling:

• Marketing It is defined as an ongoing process of planning and executing the marketing mix (Product, Price, Place, Promotion) for products, services, or ideas to create an exchange between individuals and organizations.
• Advertising It is defined as a form of communication that generally attempts to persuade potential customers to buy or consume more of a particular brand of product or service.
• public relations It is defined as the practice of managing the flow of information between an organization and its audiences.
• sales promotions defined as predetermined actions designed to increase consumer demand, stimulate market demand, or improve product availability for a limited time (i.e., contests, point-of-sale displays, discounts, free travel, and sales incentives) .

What about the sales profession?

Note that in the definitions above, the profession is *not* defined as the individual. For example, marketing is not defined as “people who market.” However, the sales profession is often explained as “individuals who sell.” Therefore, the sale should not be defined in this way. Also note that the above professions are *not* defined by the activities of those individuals. In other words, the profession of advertising is not defined as “putting ads on television.” Therefore, the sale should not be defined in this way.

Academically, selling is considered a part of marketing, however the two disciplines are completely different. Sales departments often form a separate grouping in a corporate structure, employing people who specialize in specific sales roles. While the sales process refers to a systematic process of repetitive and measurable milestones, the definition of sales “profession” does not exist (so far with this article).

So the questions become:

• Who is “in” the profession and who is not?
• How is selling related to marketing, advertising, promotions, and public relations?
• What shared competencies do people within the sales profession need?
• How do these competencies align with the roles in terms of focus and differentiation?

A definition must provide a meaning. To determine the meaning of the vendor profession, it’s helpful to determine what the vendor profession *should* contain.

The following three principles are necessary for professional selling:

• The focus of the sales profession is on the human agents involved in the buyer-seller exchange.
• Effective selling requires a systems approach, at least involving roles that sell, enable sales, and build sales capabilities.
• A specific set of sales skills and knowledge is required to facilitate the exchange of value between buyers and sellers.

Within these three principles, the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) offers the following definition of professional selling:

Professional selling is:

“The holistic business system required to effectively develop, manage, enable, and execute a mutually beneficial interpersonal exchange of goods and/or services at equitable value.”

Note: This definition was published by ASTD in 2009.

What does this definition accomplish?

First, creates a definition of world-class sales. An organization that wants to compare its sales effectiveness can take advantage of the above definition to clearly understand the strengths and weaknesses. Without such a definition, most adjustments to the sales team are arbitrary and subjective. By understanding the system view required for sales effectiveness, organizations can look at individual sales team members, as well as sales team processes and tools, and how they align with the buyer.

Second, enables more consistent results in performance through the clear establishment of roles regarding who is “in” and who is “out” of professional selling. For example, if you don’t involve a human agent, you’re not in the sales profession; is a marketing function with a transaction (ie, a “sale”). For this definition, sales operations, sales recruiters, and sales trainers are “in” the profession because they possess unique skills outside of their regular job titles. They possess knowledge and skills that are unique to allow definition.

Third, the definition lays the foundation for sales talent management/people strategies. With such a definition, sales development employees can create learning solutions that fit the unique aspects of a sales culture. At the same time, front-end recruitment strategies are more clearly linked to retention strategies.

Four, helps the organization in an exemplary performance. By setting a standard with such a definition, organizations don’t have to settle for mediocre sales effectiveness. They can use the definition to help bridge the gap between the sales ability and the competence of the sales team.