A couple months ago, I gave a presentation on the topic sales despite my aversion to sales. I cringe at the sound of the word and yet, in June of 2014 I found myself promoted to Director of Partnerships at CauseLabs, managing all of our relationships and, that’s right, sales.

What I’ve learned in the past six months of holding this position is that I actually love it. I’ve discovered that sales is simply problem solving and I thrive on solving complex problems. In CauseLabs’ case, these problems revolve around lifting people out of poverty, access to education and behavioral changes that could impact generations. It gives my work real meaning.

I tried to keep my presentation generic so that it works for anyone in sales, but it speaks to my newfound perspective. I’ve found that I have a story to tell (more than one actually) and that gives others the hope for tackling and solving their big hairy audacious problems. Those are after all, my area of expertise.

Sales isn’t about selling anyone anything. It’s about listening, understanding and serving.

[slideshare id=41681781&doc=salesisadirtyword-141117211345-conversion-gate01]