An interesting young New Brunswicker posed an interesting question on the Headspace for Entrepreneurs Facebook page over the weekend, sparking an interesting discussion.

The subject was a topic dear to the heart of all entrepreneurs – sales.

“What do you think?” asked Cameron Ritchie, a first-year University of New Brunswick student who heads a startup called Homewurk. “Can someone learn how to excel in sales? Or do people have to be naturally gifted in order to crush sales?”

Before we dive into the discussion that ensued, let me give a bit of background. Ritchie is a guy you’ll be hearing more about in the future. (At least you will if you’re a regular Entrevestor reader. We’ll be profiling him in the next week or so.) Earlier this month, Startup Canada handed him its national award as its Young Entrepreneur of the Year. It’s the second time in three years an Atlantic Canadian has won the award, which says something about the quality of education and support for young entrepreneurs in the region.

Ritchie – whose company links students looking to do odd jobs with homeowners who need such help – is searching for a sales-slash-business-development person to help grow the company, and you can tell sales are on his mind these days.

He’s asked the fundamental nature-vs-nurture question about sales people: Can they be trained? Or is it a skill that people are born with? It’s a question that Canadian universities in particular need to ask because there is not a single public university in the country that offers a full sales program. It’s a mind-numbing void given that Corporate Canada is screaming for new sales talent, and about 80 to 90 percent of undergrads completing such programs in the U.S. find great jobs right out of school.

The sales profession doesn’t have a great reputation, but the responses to Ritchie’s question showed why a sales career is a noble calling.

“Sales is about investing in people,” responded Amanda Betts, the CEO of eChart Healthcare in Fredericton. “Build the relationship and the money will come.”

The word “relationship” came up in several responses. The consensus seemed to be that there are natural salespeople, or at least people who possess the skillsets that are effective in selling. But that doesn’t mean there’s not also a place for training, for learning the proper processes, social skills, ethics, techniques in closing and using digital sales tools. The key ingredient is to engage with people.

“I think it can be learned,” said Henry Yates, the CEO of Enso Beverage Co. in Saint John. “[The] strategy is to create meaningful relationships. 10-14 per day, sales will eventually follow.”

Above all, said several respondents, the key to sales is developing relationships with potential customers, understanding their problems and selling them solutions. That’s probably neither a natural talent nor something that’s taught – it’s simply a fundamental business practice.

“Remember, business is a game and there are rules and processes for success,” said J. Rivers Corbett, the Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Opportunities New Brunswick and the founder of the Headspace Facebook page. “So first of all, a great salesperson practises those rules for success. Secondly, yes it needs to be in your DNA to want to be a salesperson. Hard to do anything well if your heart isn’t in it.”