The biggest challenge exists within our own profession. Many do not realize that 1) selling is not a recognized profession and 2) people have no idea what salespeople do 3) what the impact of professional selling is to a company or to the overall economy.

I know that many of your readers would expect me to say globalization or advances in technology are the biggest challenges. But these are not the biggest challenges facing sales professionals. In fact, our biggest challenges exist right within our own profession, we simply have to look around.

I have read in some marketing magazines where selling is considered obsolete and still others are forecasting the demise of the salesperson all together. Though this talk has existed for many years, the internet has caused it to become more mainstream. Elements such as measuring the cost of sales and believing that it is "too expensive" to have a sales team or identifying marketing integration and not including the selling team are examples of how the marketing community does not recognize what salespeople do. Another example of this is within the Human Resources hiring literature around what it takes to hire a "good" salesperson. Believe me, globalization, internationalization, cultural differences, advances in technology, and lack of differentiation are definitely challenges for salespeople, but they pale in comparison to how far the sales profession has to go until it is recognized as a "true profession." Therefore, the biggest challenges facing salespeople are:

Apathy - There is a tendency for sales people to look at their situation as unique and have some degree of apathy over whether professional training and measures apply to them. The large number of sales training options, many of which are mediocre, cause sales professionals to look at any purported vehicle for self-improvement and increased professionalism with a cynical eye. It is very difficult to show that training has led to a specific result, meaning that sales professionals often view any training as an activity that takes them away from revenue generating opportunities in the field. By thinking this, they are thinking completely different then any other professional (it's like a lawyer not wanting to learn about law). What's worse is the fact that sales training is constantly dumbing down the complexity of selling. In fact, it seems like today that sales training is supposed to be some sort of entertainment and a "break" from the rigors of the selling world. That, my fellow sales colleagues, is a problem.

Confusion - I can't help but remember the first time I went to sales training or the first time I looked for sales books. They all looked the same. Most were designed to be "quick reads" with very little real substance. I remember asking 20 salespeople "What is professional selling?" They would always reply what they did. For example; "Professional Selling requires making phone calls." Or "Professional Selling is about getting in front of customers." For every time I asked "what is professional selling?" I would get the reply back "here is what I do." It's very confusing. What's worse is the fact that there is no common language and lexicon in the sales community. Is it an "outside salesperson", "field salesperson", "relationship manager", or "industrial salesperson"? Believe it or not, they all mean the same thing. There is global confusion within the profession of selling and it is a major problem. Because of this, there is even more confusion outside the profession. This is a bigger problem because without the profession coming together to say "here is what we do", then others will be left to say "oh! Here is what I think salespeople do"

This would be like going to a doctor and having them show you how to take out an appendix, but never teaching you about the systems of the body. Advances in the profession of selling cannot occur until the "what" of selling is understood - hence our work in creating the universal selling framework.

Ignorance - Sales people often do not know what they do not know, and though they may have the drive, my not have an appreciation of the benefits of "being a professional." Whereas apathy could be the primary obstacle for the 80% of sales people that make 20% of the sales revenue, ignorance could be the major obstacle for the 20% of sales people that make the other 80% of the sales. This 20% is important, however, because they tend to be the leaders. Providing a message that compels sales people who already have ample evidence of being skilled in the profession to become active in the profession itself would serve to drive all other sales people toward being professional as well.