Sales

Sales is the process of exchanging goods, services or information for something in return, usually money. It is the closing, crucial phase of the business cycle, in which a potential prospect (a lead) becomes a paying customer. Sales is not merely a one-off transaction but a strategic discipline covering relationship building, negotiation and meeting the customer's needs.

Sales is closely related to marketing but focuses on the narrower part of the funnel. While marketing generates demand and builds awareness, the job of sales is to close the deal. In modern business we divide selling into two basic approaches:

Inbound sales: salespeople contact prospects who have already shown interest in the brand (they downloaded an e-book, filled in a form).
Outbound sales: actively seeking out and contacting potential clients who do not yet know the company (cold emails or calls).