Sellership is a replacement word for salesmanship. For now, it’s a made-up word that you won’t find in standard dictionaries. It has, however, been accepted by Urban Dictionary, and it’s making the rounds on social media, too.
Maybe you’re wondering why we need to replace the word “salesmanship.” Let me explain.
Salesmanship is defined as:
- the technique of selling a product
- adeptness at creating interest in new ideas, products, methods, etc.
- the technique, skill or ability of selling
- the work of a salesman
Let’s begin with that last definition. The word salesmanship denies “the work of a saleswoman.” What’s more, various dictionaries define “salesman” and “saleswoman” differently. Take a look at the synonyms offered:
“Saleswoman” produces synonyms like “clerk” or “agent.”
“Salesman” displays the synonyms “businessperson” and “representative.”
No online dictionary I checked uses the obvious choice of “seller” as a synonym for “salesman” or “saleswoman” despite their own definitions of seller being “a person who sells.”
Other professions have already implemented replacement words. Waiters and waitresses are now called servers. Stewardesses and stewards are now flight attendants. Most professions never had gender-bound terminology. Accountants, lawyers, engineers, mechanics, farmers, electricians, artists, and so on have designations that are about the work, not about the gender of the person doing it.
The word “seller” is a good start. Sellership is the natural extension. With a new decade well underway, the time is right for us to make this change.
After all, women do the same work as men in selling, and there’s no need for a distinction. Those synonyms in the dictionary should be identical and, better yet, there shouldn’t even be gender-specific words.
But that’s not the only reason to abandon the word “salesmanship.”
Think about what the words “salesman” and “salesmanship” conjure for most people. The snake-oil, used-car, wolf-of-Wall-Street, and coffee-is-for-closers stereotypes are inescapable when you use these words. It’s not fair, it’s not right, but it is reality.
Repositioning the profession of sales requires distancing ourselves from both the stereotypical behaviors and the words or images that automatically get associated with those stereotypes.
If we could get people to stop thinking of sales as a dirty word and selling as an icky job, just imagine what would happen next.
- People would more often pursue a sales career as their declared first choice. It wouldn’t be a job that people take just to pay the bills or just until something better comes along.
- More higher education and degree programs would spring up due to the high demand for training in this noble profession.
- Standards would be introduced and recognized.
- Buyers would be less likely to assume that sellers’ calls are one-sided, low-value pitches.
- Sellers would see themselves differently, too, as they represent professional selling. Their friends and families would introduce them with beaming pride (“This is my daughter, a seller!” they’d say instead of “Well, she’s in sales right now…”) People you meet wouldn’t react with that slightly superior smugness or surprise that a nice person like you could be in a sales role.
- When new people enter the profession, they’d have no fears about being too pushy and no reservations about making new connections. They’d have the perception, instead, that their sellership was welcomed by prospects who are receptive to professionalism and eager to hear how sellers can help them.
Sellership, unlike salesmanship, will be about professional techniques for selling a product.
Sellership, taking shape as we begin to use it, will include a buyer-first approach in describing the non-manipulative techniques for creating interest in new ideas, products, methods, etc.
Sellership will embody the techniques, skills, and abilities of selling with integrity and professionalism.
We can’t force people to change their conditioned responses to the word salesmanship. It’s useless at best. At its worst, that word is harmful because it erects barriers between sellers and buyers. (Oh, and it’s gender-exclusive either way.)
Since we can’t change the perceptions and reactions to salesmanship, let’s change the word. And while we’re at it, let’s take charge of the new word and protect its meaning. Let’s get it associated with the positive aspects and results of selling.
Here’s the full definition I’m proposing: Sellership is the technique, ability, and skills for professional selling. Sellership is an adeptness at creating interest in new ideas, products, methods, etc. that can benefit another. Sellership is the work of sellers.
When used in a sentence, it will be something like this: Sellership starts with understanding the needs of a buyer.