“Why did you start this business?”, a question that was posed to me during one entrepreneurship panel discussion. For a second I was silent, not because I did not have the answer, but because it was a throwback of 10 years in memories. Then it took me back to the present day trying to understand how the market understanding has evolved in this context, the sales profession.
I always believed in sales, and the selling profession. I always believed like most of us, that selling is vital for the success of any business. But unfortunately, sales continued to be one of the most poorly understood and under optimized areas of business.
“When I went to Harvard Business School to study for MBA, I expected that sales would be part of the curriculum. In fact the subject is absent from most MBA programs as well as undergraduate programs too.” This what Philip Delves, author of bestseller “what they teach you at Harvard Business School”, described in his book. He continues, “when I asked one of our Harvard professor to explain why, I was told that if I really wanted to study sales, I could pay for a two-week evening course somewhere, but no one was suggesting we go and learn strategy at night school.
Selling continue to be an orphan in business academe. Until this day it is of no excuse why sales profession continues to be undermined and overwhelmed with myths. |