If your answer is nothing, let me challenge you to rethink your position.

A good professional is always selling, and it has nothing to do with whether or not it is in your job title.  The question that must be answered is are others buying what you are selling?

First and foremost, you are always selling yourself.  You do that by how you are dressed, how you comport yourself, how you express your ideas in a document, presentation, email, or over the phone, to how you relate to others in a meeting or social setting.  This is happening even when you are not aware of it.  Moreover, guess what—you are either doing a good job of selling yourself, or a poor job.  Those around you are either buying what you are selling—you—or they make the decision not to buy.

They make their purchase decisions quickly.  Are they buying what you are selling?  Maybe not.

What are you selling?  Here’s a list of what is available to others to purchase.

• You
  • Competency
  • Willingness to listen
  • Ability to communicate
  • Interpersonal skills
• Your organization
  • Your ability to serve as an ambassador
  • Its honesty
  • Its friendliness
• Your ideas
  • Belief in them
  • Are they half-baked
  • Willingness to take risks
  • Ability to lead
  • Are they convincing
• Your approach
  • Does is fit within the boundaries of your organization
  • Does it account for the others’ ideas
  • Can you deliver

When a meeting concludes, whether it was with a patient or a group of colleagues, someone either did or did not buy what you were selling.