As humans, our destiny is to grow, develop and evolve. Entire industries, like healthcare, diet & fitness and education, are built on the belief that people want to get better. As we continue to evolve personally, our work evolves as well. No job is the same as it was 10 years ago; technology took care of that.

Personal effectiveness precedes professional competency, and since none of us lives in a vacuum, interpersonal effectiveness is the link between individual ability and professional achievement. To become more professional in your career, you must become more personally and interpersonally effective and professionally competent.

We all know what it means to be a professional, and we see it in all walks of life: law, medicine, sports, teaching, business and other fields. We form our perceptions about professionalism by the way someone carries him or herself—a blend of attitude, knowledge, and performance.

The dictionary defines a professional as someone who is "engaged in a specialized field . . . having great skill or experience in a particular field or activity . . . one who has assured competence in a particular field or occupation." It further defines a profession as "an occupation or vocation requiring training . . . and advanced study in a specialized field."

Synonyms that describe professionals include words like: skilled, knowledgeable, experienced, trained, masterful and proficient. All of these apply to salespeople.

Personal effectiveness is achieving your goals. Sales effectiveness is creating the desired results for your company, your customers and yourself. Personal effectiveness presumes a desire to grow, learn, change and perform at the top of one's profession. It's a blend of motivation and know-how. You must possess good personal habits and the knowledge of the task you are charged with performing. Sales effectiveness requires technical knowledge of your product and the necessary selling techniques.

None of us achieves success without the help of others. It is the synergy of your team that continues to reinforce the fundamental business reality: We is greater than me. None of us individually is as strong or as smart as we are collectively. You may reach certain heights on your own, but to soar among the best of the best, you must work well with others.

Professional competence is your fitness for operating at a high level of your vocation. Sales competencies are the right blend of attitudes, attributes, skills, knowledge and behaviors that contribute to superior performance in your job.

Job competencies for salespeople include proficiency in these areas: product, company and industry knowledge; planning and organizing; recognizing viable sales opportunities; identifying buyers' needs; designing proposals; persuading others to accept your solution; as well as negotiating, closing, resolving objections, following up, time management and defensive selling.