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How Non-sales Professionals Use Sales in their Career

If you‘re employed outside of the business sector, you may not think of sales skills as something you apply in your own work. For some, sales has a reputation problem; characterized by stereotypes and caricatures of “pushy salesmen” who may withhold information, maximize their own profits, and shortchange the customer. Despite these outdated stereotypes, the essential tactics from the sales playbook—pitching, problem solving, adding value, and timely communication—are more relevant and valuable than ever, and not just to those working in the business sector.

Let’s explore the role of sales across the workforce.

Health Care

The top goal of professionals in the health care sector is to deliver excellent, evidence-based care and promote wellness. Whether you’re a medical professional administering care or working as an administrative assistant, there’s a sales element at play. For example, a patient facing a medical procedure often has several options for surgery or treatment. When explaining the benefits, associated risks, and other factors, you’re practicing the art of sales. Based on your subject-matter expertise in your field and previous patient treatment, you have an understanding of your audience and the range of solutions that will help them achieve goals. The interaction between the provider and the patient aligns with that of a sales professional and their customer—just in a different context.

Nonprofit

The nonprofit sector is diverse but across all organizations, the mission is essential. Those in leadership roles are often responsible for fundraising, capital campaigns, and securing donations. This has a tangible connection to sales through the work of selling the mission and influencing others to support the cause. Staff members who focus on direct service to a nonprofit’s clients use sales strategies, too. An intake specialist who connects new clients to services at a nonprofit is a pro at (what sales would call) qualifying a customer. In this role, it is critical to pinpoint the needs of a client in a short time span and uncover any unspoken needs that the nonprofit’s services can help address. Sales teams use this tactic within their sector to refine their approach to potential customers and find more ways to add value.

Art, Design, and Writing

Those who work in a creative field are focused on developing original content and at a foundational level, they’re also responsible for selling their vision. Whether you’re a freelancer designer who contracts with clients, or part of an in-house marketing team, an essential part of your work centers on presenting creative concepts to clients for approval. This often involves developing a creative brief that demonstrates how the vision aligns with the client’s needs and finetuning a presentation that’s innovative, focused, and effective. Although rooted in a more artistic realm, this process is entirely a sales function. Professionals who can think critically about their creative concepts and unite it with sales fundamentals—such as delivering a well-crafted pitch—will be well poised for a strong career in the creative industry.

Technology

The tech space is built on problems and solutions. So is sales. For example, an IT data specialist is often called upon to customize reports that will help managers process information quickly and make informed decisions. However, these reports won’t be useful unless that data specialist is able to take a page or two from the sales playbook and drill down into the manager’s needs. What will you do with the report? At what frequency should the information be updated? Does the report require visual aids, like graphs? Until the data specialist conducts a needs assessment to ensure the report is supporting the manager’s decision-making process, the report won’t be actionable. It takes an astute IT professional to understand not only how to technically build the report and manipulate data, but also the importance of asking the right questions to achieve the best outcome. The latter is strengthened by borrowing from the world of sales.

Human Resources

Sales and human resources may seem as if they’re on opposite ends of the spectrum: sales is focused externally, while HR is focused internally. Upon a closer look, you can see how these different units have similar goals. Sales teams must be experts in customer needs so they can guide them to the most useful product or service. Meanwhile, HR teams must be experts in employee needs so they can help foster a productive working environment. On both ends of the spectrum, customer service is critical to attracting, retaining, and strengthening their audiences.