Have you ever sold Girl Scout cookies door to door?

Many people are fond of proclaiming that they are not sales people.  Huge mistake.  We are all sales people.  When I interview people I always probe about their sales background.  "Have you ever held a sales job?"  And a typical reply is, "No, I'm not a sales person, I'm a graphic artist."  Often surprised and maybe even a tad irritated that I asked.

"Really, you've never sold anything?  Girl Scout cookies door to door or magazine subscriptions to benefit your high school band?"  "Well yes, I was a Girl Scout and did go door to door, and oh yes, I worked at a J Crew store in college.  Do you mean that kind of selling?"  That is precisely what I meant. 

You would be surprised how invaluable even that kind of simple selling can be to a candidates career.  By the way, it doesn't count if you had your parents post a note at work selling your cookies.  You had to make the pitch!  Parents who sell for their kids are performing an injustice to the little darlings and cheating their children out of the best possible education.

Everyone needs to learn how to sell?  HR people need to sell the company to new employees or the new health care plan to current employees.  College professors need to sell their new curriculum to their department head.  Geeks need to sell the new router they want to install to the boss that controls spending. 

That graphic artist that doesn't see herself as a sales person will be creating ads all day long designed to persuade people to make a purchase or take an action.  And she doesn't see herself as a sales person?  Are you serious?

People who have some form of sales experience are light years ahead of those with none and make for more desirable employees.  As a 12-year-old I used to sell newspaper subscriptions door to door for the Milwaukee Sentinel.  Tough way to make money but some of the best training in the world.