Servers at restaurants are salespeople.

Hosts who answer phones and take reservations and greet customers and say goodnight to them are salespeople.

Bartenders are salespeople.

Retailers that put wine the hands of a customer and earn their trust are salespeople.

The ones that ring up the order at a wine shop are salespeople.

The delivery crew at a wholesaler are salespeople.

And of course the wholesale reps on the street, meeting with buyers all day long, are salespeople.

If you represent, you sell. If you are part of a larger entity that pays you to put a good face forward, you sell. Even if you’re completely independent and work outside of the orbit of the normal work patterns in your industry, you are selling yourself.

You might not always be the one taking the order or making the transaction happen, but if your reputation and that of your employer can swing with your actions, that means you are selling. You are selling a brand, a product, an image, a credo, a way for the world to think about who you represent, which includes yourself.

We are all salespeople. It’s healthy to remember this.