One day, before a regular sales meeting, I was reviewing a proposal by one of my salespeople when I noticed his business card. Below his name he identified himself as a security consultant.

When the meeting began, out of curiosity, I asked each of my sales representatives to give me one of his or her business cards. To my surprise, based on the titles on their business cards, out of a sales force of eight, I only had four salespeople; I also had two security consultants, one marketing representative and one CCTV specialist.

After they had assured me that they had not changed jobs since our last meeting, I told them, “If you are paid for your advice, you are a consultant. If you are paid for designing a marketing program, you are a marketing representative. If you are paid to design CCTV, then you are a CCTV specialist. But if you are paid for what you sell, then you are a salesperson, PERIOD. There is nothing to hide, apologize for, or excuse.”

Several years ago, garbage collectors began referring to themselves as sanitation engineers. That their job was honest and necessary was not enough. They hoped by the mere change of a name to transform themselves and their jobs into something more. Did they succeed? I think not. What the garbage collectors did succeed in doing was to make the sad confession that they perceived their jobs, and thus part of themselves, as ignoble.

This same truth applies to salespeople who call themselves something that they are not. What the salespeople succeed in doing is to subtly chip away at their own self-esteem. There is, however, an important difference between garbage collecting and selling: one does not need high levels of self-esteem to collect garbage; one does need high levels of self-esteem to succeed in sales.

So, for my four closet sales reps and their kindred spirits, let’s look at some of the reasons why they should hold themselves and their profession in higher esteem.

1. SALESPEOPLE ARE RISK TAKERS.

Most salespeople depend on making their income by what they produce. Every month is a new beginning. The saying “I don’t care what you did for me yesterday, what are you going to do for me today?” is the essence of what the salesperson faces every month. This willingness to place himself on the line, to face the objective judgement of the market place, to stake his future and that of his family on his ability to produce, requires a courage that few people have or are willing to acquire. Instead, most people seek the comfort and security of a salaried 9 to 5 job.

But this is only one aspect of the salesperson as risk taker. The product, no matter how well researched and developed, must face the ultimate test in the marketplace. It is the salesperson’s job to make it happen. In effect, he is the company’s point man, taking the risks and acting upon the strategy and plans laid out by others. It is his job to discover the prospects; to justify why his company’s prices are higher and delivery dates longer; and to promote his product, despite its limitations, as a worthy investment.

2. SALESPEOPLE ARE PRIME MOVERS.

In a free market, somebody has to sell something before anything can happen. Everything begins with the sale. Without it there is nothing to install, to service or to maintain. There is no one to bill and no one to collect money from. The salesperson not only starts this chain but also must sustain it. For a company, like an individual, must either grow or die. Complacency and/or the desire to stand still are the first steps toward stagnation. The salesperson is figuratively and actually the life force of this process of growth. When an employee complained that he didn’t like salespeople, Rich DeVos, co-founder of Amway, sharply retorted, “You’d better because without them you wouldn’t have a job.”

3. SALESPEOPLE ARE PROBLEM SOLVERS AND MONEY SAVERS.

In general, buyers don’t like to spend money or waste their time with salespeople. This reluctance is quiet recognition of the salesperson’s true role and value. While executives and other decision makers don’t want to spend money and waste time, they do want to save money and solve problems. This is exactly what the professional salesperson does. The security system that detects a break-in, the energy management system that saves thousands of dollars on energy consumption, the typewriters that help the secretaries work more efficiently are problems solved and money saved…all made possible by salespeople.

It is this concept as problem solver and money saver that must rest at the core of every salesperson’s self-identity if he is to succeed and reach his potential. With this armor you can cold call and face the skepticism and suspicion that arise, not as occasions for fear, but as opportunities to educate. You can ask for the order with confidence, not because you are selling a product, but because you are solving a problem.

4. SALESPEOPLE ARE TRADERS.

The free market system rests implicitly on the ethic of the fair trader: exchanging equal for equal, value for value, with neither party sacrificing but both working together for their mutual benefit. The professional salesperson wants to make money but only by solving a problem or satisfying a need. But, because he is a trader, he, too, is of equal value. Consequently, he expects his prospects to keep their appointments as well as their commitments. Because he is helping his prospect solve a problem, he has a right to ask for the order and a right to find out whether his proposal has been accepted or not. The concept of the trader is the core of the salesperson’s professional self-respect.

These qualities – risk taker, prime mover, problem solver, and trader – define the professional salesperson. They are as noble in their conception as they are in their achievement, and elevate selling from a mere profession into a heroic enterprise.

Psychologist Nathaniel Branden once noted that the greatest battle that men fight is not between men and other men but between man and himself. In selling, the ultimate battle is not between the salesperson and his prospect but between the salesperson’s self-doubt and his self-confidence. To win the victory that is his, he must begin by accepting that his profession is right and important.

Carl Harvey is a sales management and training specialist in Melton, Massachusetts. For more information please write Carl Harvey, 36 Fairbanks Rd., Melton, MA 02186.