This article explores how, in some cases, sales skills develop from childhood and how they later evolve into professional careers. There are many current challenges in commercial processes, and conversational intelligence is revolutionizing this field by providing an objective perspective and concrete data that complement human intuition and experience within organizations.
The journey will be as follows:
From school sellers to professionals
Challenges and complexities in the sales world
Technological Revolution: conversational intelligence
AI functionalities and benefits in sales
Wrapping up
From school seller to professional
Much of who we are today is a result of our upbringing. Some people had everything at their disposal to enjoy their childhood, while others, due to more challenging economic circumstances, learned early on that putting food on the table required hard work and sometimes sacrifices. Regardless of the reason, some individuals have an innate passion for sales—the ability to persuade anyone with the right arguments to buy their product or service.
Many people surely remember selling brownies, cookies, gummies, or bracelets at school (often secretly). The satisfaction of selling out all the merchandise in a single day, getting home and counting the money, learning to reinvest to earn more, or simply selling, spending, and having mom replace the stock out of her own pocket was priceless.
As a result, many entrepreneurs, businesspeople, and sales professionals were born. Their stories often include anecdotes like these. Others, due to life circumstances, have to sell to survive—not because they love it, but because they see no other alternative. In the end, we live in a world where the exchange of goods and services is what keeps everything running.
Challenges and complexities in the sales world
Sales have always been a mix of objectivity and subjectivity. If the process was successful, it’s likely because the product was good, the salesperson had a clear pitch, and they possessed the patience and resilience needed to close the deal. But it could also be because they made a good impression, were part of the right circle (as envious people might say), or simply arrived at the perfect moment.On the other hand, when a sale falls through, common reasons include the product not being suitable, the target audience being wrong, the salesperson not being likable, bad timing for the company, or the customer having already purchased from someone else. It’s difficult to understand, frustrating even, but sometimes you have to accept that the “fit” simply wasn’t there—something that will define the relationship moving forward (a topic for another article).
Working in sales is no easy task. We all know that sales are the foundation of any organization—it’s that simple. But building a strong sales force is complicated. It requires a huge investment in training, talent, knowledge, and—something particularly challenging today—helping people understand that they are not just selling a product or service; they are selling value and solving a problem of some kind.
Business leaders often say that one of the key factors in their company’s success is that everyone on the team, regardless of their role, knows how to sell. They cultivate a deep belief and passion for their industry’s offering, allowing them to naturally and effortlessly attract new clients, even in social settings. This idea is summed up by a phrase from a CEO friend of mine:"If I do well, the company does well, and therefore, everyone does well."With leadership like that, of course, the whole team is motivated to do whatever it takes to sell and ensure collective success.
But at the end of the day, we’re all human. Our mindset, mood, and memory fluctuate. Paying attention and taking notes is an art that not everyone masters, as a close friend often reminds me. On top of that, notes often end up lost in notebooks, making it difficult to retrieve important information later.
Technological Revolution: conversational intelligence
With all the challenges and opportunities AI brings, Conversational Intelligence emerges—a tool that acts as a virtual assistant, capable of recording, transcribing, and analyzing every interaction with clients. There’s no longer a need to rely solely on memory or hastily written notes during calls or meetings. Now, every word, tone, and nuance of the conversation is captured and available for later analysis.
It does not replace humans—contrary to one of the biggest fears surrounding AI today. Instead, it provides an objective perspective and concrete data that complement the intuition and experience of salespeople, which is invaluable to companies.
One of its greatest strengths is delivering valuable insights to improve products, refine processes, and even act as a market analyst to identify opportunities and potential innovations.
AI functionalities and benefits in sales
Identifying patterns in customer language and even measuring their level of interest or engagement based on tone and word choice is a dream come true for sales teams. Currently, sales strategies rely on the feeling a conversation leaves behind. But with this tool, subjectivity is eliminated. It allows salespeople to adjust their strategies in real-time and refine future interactions, significantly improving the chances of closing a deal.
Another major advantage is knowledge democratization within the organization. Best practices are no longer limited to the experience of top-performing salespeople; instead, they can be analyzed, shared, and replicated across the entire team. This accelerates the learning curve for new members and raises the overall performance of the sales force—a relief for sales leaders and those responsible for training new reps.
Wrapping up
Going back to the original point, sales require a strong human touch, and industries that excel in sales didn’t achieve success overnight. What is clear is that many of those who once sold brownies in school and now lead massive sales teams understand that a tool like this combines the best of human intuition with the power of data analysis. This allows organizations not just to sell more, but to sell better.
If you found this article interesting, I recommend trying out this tool. Start a free trial here and see if it could benefit your company—it certainly has for ours.
