A Brief History of the Sales Profession

The formula for defining a "profession" is similar throughout many disciplines, including: accounting, education, engineering, law and medicine.

These professions all have codes of ethical conduct, a definition of their scope, and standards of practice for their members, which include some or all aspects of academic preparation, accreditation, certification and/or licensing.

Morris L. Cogan addressed the definition of forming a profession in business in 1953. After reviewing all the literature on the topic, he offered the following comprehensive distillation, which is submitted here, as a fine summary of the previous definitions:
A profession is a vocation whose practice is founded upon understanding the theoretical structure of some department of learning or science, and upon the abilities accompanying such an understanding. This understanding and these abilities are applied to the vital practical affairs of man. The practices of the profession are modified by knowledge of a generalized nature and by the accumulated wisdom and experience of mankind, which serve to correct the errors of specialization. The profession, that serves the vital needs of man, considers its first ethical imperative to be altruistic service to the client"(Vollmer et al., 1966).
Why is the definition of a profession so important to selling? The professionalism of a group establishes the power that is recognized by others within the business community and outside the profession. With the sanction, approval, and authority intact, the profession attains higher status in the eyes of the clients. In this case, the clients of the seller would need to recognize and sanction, and approve the authority of the sales professional. Due to the nature of the buying-selling relationship, many individual buyers do not feel comfortable giving or otherwise recognizing this power in the sales professional. The question becomes: if doctors and lawyers receive money for their work, and indeed must sell and market their services, why then, are they seen as "more professional"? All of these definitions of a profession provide insight into the ideals and behaviors, which are needed to be considered "professional" by members of the business community. In learning to become a "professional", many occupations are taught in school. When a student studies any new subject matter, their first objective is to understand an overview of the entire subject matter. For example, when studying medicine, students first understand all the systems of the body, the different medical terms, and a high level overview of the entire field before they ever operate on anyone. Once any student studying a new subject understands this high level overview, they then move in depth into each specific area of that profession.

Some sales professionals have entered the field by joining a large and established company. Others have grown up in the field by learning the "hard way". Still, others have done a combination of both. With over 15 million sales professionals, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in the United States alone there was no set standard upon which to measure and advance the entire profession until the United Professional Sales Association standards were created at the turn of the century.

With these standards, thousands of sales professionals are discovering that they are indeed a part of a "True Profession."

Brian is the Chairman and Founder of the the United Professional Sales Association (UPSA). UPSA is a non-profit organization headquartered in Washington DC that has addressed the concerns and challenges of individual sales professionals. Brian has authored the world's first universal selling standards and open-source selling framework for free distribution. This 'Compendium of Professional Selling' containing the commonly accepted and universally functional knowledge that all sales professionals possess. The open-source selling standards have been downloaded in 16 countries by over 300 people. Over 30 people have made contributions.

Because UPSA is not owned by one person or any company, it is a member organization and guardian of the global standard of entry into the sales profession.

Find out about the membership organization and understand the processes and framework of professional selling at the UPSA Website at http://www.upsa-intl.org. Find out more about Brian at: http://ezinearticles.com/?expert_bio=Brian _Lambert

---

Hate Follow-Up Phone Calls To Hot Prospects Who Won?t Call You Back? Stop Calling!

We all learned in Sales 101 we must follow up... Read More

Selling Strategy - 5 Ways To Success

Web sites exist for essentially two purposes. The first is... Read More

Your Proposal Was Rejected... But Why?

When a request for proposal (RFP) comes in, you get... Read More

Where to Find Mannequins for Sale

Any time a clothing store opens or expands, they must... Read More

How To Bully Your Prospects Into Buying Your Product or Service

Selling is a tough job, and sometimes you may need... Read More

Dont Be Macho Selling Ice to Eskimos

This issue's topic was suggested by a sales rep for... Read More

Selling Skills - How to Handle the Dreaded Question Whats The Price?

I've written previously about how to attract customers and how... Read More

Stop Telemarketers, Do Not Call List or Not

American consumers have spoken and have done so loudly registering... Read More

Model Dell: The Art of the Affiliate Coupon

Along with having an innovative supply chain, there's another reason... Read More

Aikido and The Art of Cold Calling

Imagine being in a crowded concert or bar. All of... Read More

Define Your Best Customer

To be more effective at developing relationships, one should always... Read More

How to Lose the Sale Quickly & Easily

Here are five sure-fire ways to guarantee you will not... Read More

The Top 10 Ways to Add Extra Value

Everyone wants the best possible value in every transaction, but... Read More

Before You Sell Do The Math

This is an important and potentially profitable piece of advice.... Read More

Selling Against Goliath

Selling Against Goliath?How to Take on the Big Guys and... Read More

Refining Your Telephone Prospecting Techniques To Be A Master Closer!

Let me create a picture for you. This is the... Read More

Customer Service Revival

Value is in the Eye of the BeholderSales today is... Read More

Unique Selling Propositions

If you have competitors, then you should have at least... Read More

Give Up the Need to Sell

Most business people will tell you that selling is not... Read More

A Stupid Question, but it has to be asked

This is a stupid question but it has to be... Read More

Selling To Women - Selling To Men - It Isnt the Same

Selling To Women - Selling To Men - It Isn't... Read More

How to create your own Unique Selling Proposition

Why would a prospect buy from you rather than from... Read More

What is a Pitch?

I've been training in countries outside the U.S. recently, and... Read More

An Introduction to Mannequins

Just about every clothing store uses mannequins. There are many... Read More

Getting Past the Gate Guard

Over the years, many prospects have hidden behind their well-trained... Read More

Sell With KISS, As In Keep It Simple, Stupid

One of the most useful and fundamental communications lessons that... Read More

At-ti-tude, n

At-ti-tude, n.One of Webster's dictionaries describes the word attitude as:a... Read More

Are You a Cultivator or a Harvester?

As a result of providing marketing consulting, training and coaching... Read More

Solution-Sell is a Myth!

Who among us is not already up to here with... Read More

What is Lead Generation?

Lead Generation is vital to all businesses. All companies try... Read More

Who Takes Your Money

Your business is making profits, but where is the cash?... Read More

People Buy People So Sell On Relationships

(Objection handling tips excerpted from Objections! Objections! Objections!)People buy people.... Read More

Dead Silence From Your Prospect: The Worst Sound Of All

Could this be the worst moment in your selling cycle?You've... Read More