...is because they're the two functions in any organization that contribute to revenue. Everything else contributes to cost.

Sure, I hate the high-pressure used-car salesman who's doing everything in his power to extort money out of you for a lemon. And I hate the retail sales person who, like an incessant gnat at a picnic, buzzes around you trying to sell you something you don't need. But these vexations are extremes and, like most extremes, are in the minority.

If you go into a store and clerk actually makes you happy to buy something you didn't go into the store to buy, we don't think of them as a salesperson. Like most things, when it's done correctly, we don't notice it's being done at all.

Every organization is driven by everyone, in all departments, each doing their part to add value to the end product or service that people are buying. But everything, no matter what it is, needs to be sold. Samuel Morse had to run around furiously trying to get someone to realize the potential of his code...it didn't just sell itself.

When you cash your paycheck at the end of the month, you can probably thank a salesperson, somewhere down the line, for helping you earn it, too.