The Immeasurable Contribution of Sales

An excerpt from Dennis Galbraith's upcoming book, Sales Integration:

The satisfaction a society receives in a year is not covered by GDP statistics. How much was produced and sold is one thing. Whether or not it was sold to the right people for the right purpose is another. Were the products sold delivered in a way that maximized satisfaction? Whether or not those buyers purchase again delivers a huge impact on future economic growth. How sales professionals carry out the sales process remains largely ignored in economics.

Fortunately, whether or not an economist measures something does not make that thing any less real or less important. Sales are the driving force of business; there is no getting around that. When done right, a great sales experience sends consumers back to work eager to earn more and spend more in a marketplace promising enhanced quality of life. Done poorly, sales can breed the kind of distrust hindering economic growth and prosperity.

People cannot achieve nearly the quality of life in isolation that they can when they exchange goods, services, and labor in a free market place. Dialing that up to its maximum capability requires the best sales processes possible. For those of us passionate about sales and customer satisfaction, this is our age.

This book contains criticism, much of which is aimed at very fine organizations. I make no apology for this. An optimist sees fault in the current state relative to what can be. If current operations are sufficient, there is nothing more to be optimistic about.