The title for this post actually started as a question that was posted on Douglas Miller’s LinkedIn profile that I got tagged in by a client to respond to. Douglas asked, “Do you think sales should be taught in college?”

It happened to coincide with my weekend reading of Keenan’s book “Not Taught.” (If you follow me on Twitter you can see the things I highlight from it as I go.) At the time I was tagged in the post on LinkedIn, I was reading the line: “It’s not enough to have the degree that says you know something- you actually have to know it plus what to do with it.” Coincidence?  Regardless, it sums up my initial reaction to Douglas’ question, without even reading the rest of the comments.

I worked hard as a single mom, with 2 jobs, to get my degree. I am still paying for it too. For me at least, my degree wasn’t about getting a piece of paper any more than running a foot race is about the extra medal. l get an ROI from it as well- just not always as I initially expected.

I also didn’t have the typical college experience. There were lots of accelerated online classes. Luckily I was working in my first small and startup businesses and they were willing to let me make them my ‘lab work’ where I put into practice the things I was learning about business. And the things I wanted to know about, like SEO for example, that colleges didn’t teach at the time- I found others who were doing it and learned from them.

Now I come to realize that I gave birth to 2 millennials, one of whom is entering college in the fall, the other who decided college wasn’t the path he wanted to take. So this whole question of the value today of a college degree it is something that I passionately curious about.

Then when you consider sales courses and degrees from college, and I wonder-how is that different from training?

With the above quote in mind, maybe it helps explain why some people’s reaction to Douglas’ question about can sales be taught was NO?

“...it is the hardest to train someone to do. There are so many variables in the process and you have to be able to read the prospect and adjust to their needs. So many people cannot adjust." (there is certainly proof of this- so is teaching sales in school an answer to the problem? Or at least part of the answer?)

"Sales is not taught! You know this come on! Sales is a genetic behavior that few have. You cannot teach someone to be outgoing, or nice. 100 percent disagree". or "sales just comes naturally" (sorry, but these are not requirements for sales.)

“...For me, sales should be kept away from teachers. It's something that should only be passed on by people that have been there and done it, as it's not a science, it's an art. When I say been there and done it, I don't mean salaried Reps, I mean people that have done it by risking their own money and actually building a business based on sales not marketing. If you've never done face to face cold calling and I don't mean one day of doorknocking to "sell" utilities, you don't know the half of it” (I can agree with part of this statement, if taught those who have been in the field probably have the most real life knowledge to share.)

“Sales is a very difficult position and not everyone is made for it. Even with all the schooling, some people are not built for the pressure, the competitiveness, the organization, and most importantly the rejection. Not every situation is going to be a Yes situation. It is how you deal with the rejection, pick yourself back up and get creative to truly understand the wants and needs of your customers. That can't be taught in a classroom…” (true, this is difficult, if not impossible to teach in a classroom. Some things happen over time in real life. Those are the deep seeded lessons we learn from experience more often than not.)

I thought it was interesting that many of the above responses were from marketing professionals. So I decided to ask the same question to a group of sales professionals. Even more interesting to me that all of the 36 people (and counting) were in favor of teaching sales in school.

“I think a basic level of sales should be taught everyone in school. Sales is apart of every industry and would be very beneficial. As I look back at my years at university most my teachers used sales tactics to get students to think similar. My opinion - teach how to think, not what to think.” -West Garrison

“Since sales is a great metaphor for life (we are all selling something) a college level sales course would be wonderful. 'How to Sell, How to Influence' - I would subscribe. ‘ -Thane Crossley

“I'd love to see a "Psychology of Sales" class taught, because I see the mindset of the sales individual being the biggest perceived barrier. We must first see ourselves as having something of value to offer as a person - in addition to the product or service we want to promote. Selling can be brutal on a person with low self confidence or esteem, and understanding the psychology behind all that would be immensely helpful, I believe.” - Teri Johnson

And then there are those who are a maybe, or as my husband loves to answer my questions with: “Yes and no.” (Which I ask, so which is it the answer? and so the games begin…)

“Communication should be taught. Sales overall, that is a tough question- for me it would depend on your "Theory of Sales" . However with Sales being one of the top Industries and growing I would say Yes.”- James McKinney

Here's my take: Having knowledge about something (i.e.: a college degree) knowing what to do with it, and then actually doing it effectively is what makes the best salespeople. There are lots of people who know what they should do, but for whatever reason can’t seem to make themselves do it. I don’t think that is something that can be learned in a classroom. Yet most salespeople are not born. Today’s salesperson is not just a persistent pusher of products, they (we) are problem solvers.

I had a lengthy conversation with Mark Birch about it as well. He started the global Enterprise Sales Forum and hears from a lot of salespeople. We discussed the aspects to sales that colleges can and should teach.  There are many types of sales, there is a historical evolution of sales, there is the psychology of sales, there is the critical thinking aspect to being a problem solver. The more you understand about how sales impacts a business, the more important you will realize it is. Everything is sales. Sales can be learned, but what can be learned and how? Like a science course - anything learned in a classroom should be tried in a real life lab.

We also agreed that it also matters who the teacher is. Teaching from a book and teaching from experience and real life are totally different things. Thankfully access to information today is not limited to a college offering it.

But we had to question how good, reliable, and tested the information that’s “freely available.” Is teaching sales in school an attempt to standardize it? Will that make it better? Or worse? Will it be able to keep up with the changes? Will students who went to Ivy League “sales” school be more sought after?

What do you think? Should sales be taught in college? Or what if we asked not whether sales should be taught in school, but whether sales can be learned in school? Maybe we should be asking whether or not you have the right sales mindset to want to learn and the strength to apply it?

What can be done about it now, today, if you didn’t take sales in college? How are you getting your sales education? Have you wondered what the difference is between learning something from a book, or classroom to applying knowledge and learning how to think rather than what to think?

Maybe you don't have a place where you can easily apply the things you are learning like I did? Check out recordings from the Live Sales Labs!