The internet has radically changed this dynamic. Indeed, salespeople used to be able to get away with almost anything in the past, because it was the customer’s responsibility to not make a bad purchase, a policy known as caveat emptor – “buyer beware.” With used cars, for example, customers could be duped into overpaying for a poor product because the seller knew much more about it than the customer there was an information asymmetry. When most people think of selling, the first thing that springs to mind is a slick, pushy used-car salesman – a distinctly negative image. This transforming landscape in both sales and non-sales selling is making most of us some sort of salesperson. Considering that Ed-Med is now the largest job sector in the US economy, and growing fast, it’s clear that moving people is becoming an increasingly important part of many Americans’ work. Non-sales selling is perhaps most important in the education and medical (Ed-Med) industries: A teacher persuades students to trade time and energy for an education a doctor persuades patients to give up the pork chops they love for better health. In other words, we spend almost half our time at work trying to move people.

In addition to sales activities creeping into many jobs, research shows that, on average, people spend some 40 percent of their time at work engaged in so-called non-sales selling, meaning persuading, convincing and influencing others. A start-up usually can’t afford a sales department – therefore everyone has to sell. This same “we’re all in sales” ethos also applies to entrepreneurs, soon to be the majority of the workforce in the United States. The enterprise software company Atlassian, for example, generated revenues of just over $100 million in 2011 without a single dedicated salesperson. Engineers, product designers and customer support staff all interact with customers and can therefore help bring in sales. In large companies, the traditional line between sales and other departments is blurring fast. Even though the door-to-door salesmen who used to peddle everything from mothballs to feather dusters may have disappeared, the activity of selling is still as relevant and vibrant as ever – and is increasingly becoming part of everyone’s job.

To sell is human pink