In most companies, there’s a single department called “Sales”. These are the people with quotas, lead lists, client calls and pitches. However, the people in that division aren’t the only ones selling. Because everyone is in sales.
I know that sounds odd. For many who aren’t in the department that’s ostensibly responsible for it, “sales” can seem foreign to their day jobs. To some, it may even sound like a dirty word. “I don’t do sales” I’ve heard team members say, like you were asking them to clean the bathroom.
However, every single person in every single organization should view themselves as part of the selling proposition. Everyone, from the product people, to project management, to the folks doing customer service, all the way to accounting and research, needs to view themselves as owning a part of the drive for customer satisfaction. Of delivering a superlative experience. Of exceeding customer expectations. These are the things that bring in new buyers and keep customers coming back.
So, emulate the NASA janitor who, when he was asked by JFK what he did, said “I’m helping put a man on the moon”. Because everyone in the organization is in the business of helping do exactly that.
Michael Baer's Stratecution Stories 