I've always cast a wide net when thinking conceptually about what "sales" is, especially when I was a founder and de-facto lead salesman for years. For the longest I considered sales to be just another flavor of persuasion, and at it's very best it's almost pedagogical.

However now, I think I'd rather just not be in business than do sales. That's really just a recognition that sales is an absolutely necessary part of all businesses, and how terrible I personally find it.