Sales defined - sales is the cornerstone of all commercial activity, the selling of goods and services. Without sales there is no revenue, and without revenue there is no business. The goal of all for-profit businesses is to increase sales.

Sales is the act of selling and doesn't just include the act of transferring money for a product or service. Selling has become an art, and act of persuasion; it can involve convincing someone that he wants or needs a certain product or service. A big part of that is presenting features and benefits to help persuade someone to be a buyer.

Most businesses have a sales force, be it a formal structure with a sales manager, sales supervisor, sales trainer, and sales agents selling the company's products and services, or a sole shopkeeper working the till. Not all companies have sales staff as the sales function is sometimes outsourced to another company. But selling is what all companies must do in order to survive.

Sales is a function of the economy. As sales increase the economy improves. A downturn in sales in the economy as a whole could result in a recession. With higher sales, businesses could hire more staff and with a dowturn in sales, they may be forced to cut staff.

Consequently, sales is one of the highest paying jobs in many organizations. Often, bonuses that take the form of commissions or sales contests get figured into the income of salespeople.

Bottom line:

• More sales is good
• Less sales is bad