“You strategy people. What will you know about the hardships of a salesperson? All you need to do is make pretty PPTs”, says the salesperson.
“Oh gosh. If only pretty PPT making was a legitimate job description in this world”, rants the strategy person.
As someone who has spent an almost equal amount of my career in sales and strategy, it’s a debate in which I feel guilty taking sides.
So, I start from the very beginning.
We are all salespeople.
Some of us sell the products and services we are entrusted to sell, as “sales” people. Because that’s our job.
Some of us sell the methodologies and architectures we have perfected forever, as “product” people. Because that’s our job.
Some of us sell our ideas in the hope of getting investments and resources, as “strategy” people. Because that’s our job.
All of us sell ourselves every day. We the brand. All encompassing of our principles and capabilities.
All of us should ideally strategise our career frequently. We the package. What we want to do and how we want to do, and put a plan around it.
I know I am getting very meta here but if you have stood me for so long, bear with me a little longer.
The meta aside, if we really get to brass tacks…
Some people do. Some others think. A few others talk. There’s value in all of it, and space for all kinds.
The problem is with glorifying or deprecating one over the other.
There are people who do either job they pick up well. And there are others who do everything shittily.
As always, the answer to the question “Sales or Strategy” too like many others before it, is “depends”.
Depends on our capabilities and intent. And the context.
Next time you guffaw at someone who says they are a “strategy consultant” or they are a “sales leader”, pause and wonder whether you are guffawing at the person or the role or both. The answer to that will tell you more about yourself than the other person.
P. S. Views strictly personal. None of the events mentioned in this post refer to the organisation that I am currently associated with.
One thing that always fascinated me was that the really good sales people (and I'm not talking of the role here, but rather the mindset) are the ones who don't appear to be sales people! They're so good at the selling that it doesn't even feel like 'a sell'