To Ledio's point, I am a teacher at heart - have always been and will always be - and it is important to maintain the highest level of integrity in our communications with students. However, to Kevin's and Robert's points, additionally, the perception is based on what we believe sales or selling to be.
I sell myself every day, not superficially or in an exaggerated way to get someone to buy something, but in a way to help motivate and engage students and/or training participants. Investment in one's education is intangible, and though having a high return on investment, you can't drive it off the lot, walk out of its front door or watch your favorite TV shows on it. As an educator, I believe one of my primary roles, collectively, in representing both the field and my discipline is to continuously relate learning to students' career objectives and affirm the relevance (of the product so to speak). In that sense, it's really a type of selling to help ensure a student, faced with a variety of life's challenges, walks across the graduation stage and enters his or her chosen field.
A sales professional once told me that a "buyer" will not connect with the features and benefits of the "product" until they connect with the "sales person." How we professionally connect with our students influences how they connect to the importance of their education and training - and hence the outcomes.
