Is sales 'black magic'?

For the longest time I have been amazed how people refer to sales as a 'skill you are born with', as if sales managers have magic voodoo dolls they use to generate sales. In part this is true as a major part of sales has to do with human interaction, and in a world of e-mail and text message exchange this seem to get outdated.

I am certain that as you look into your current company the VP of Marketing has an MBA, and the VP of Eng has a MSC. With the VP of sales, often having an unrelated education, it therefor is no suprise that years of experience are necessary to be in charge of one of the larger cost centers, and drive the direction of the company.

In the beginning I too got caught in the magic and believed that I was touched by the hand of god to be a 'medicine-man' and spell my 'black magic' onto the people. Yet as I learned the lessons of sales (channel / sales / account management) I found that although there certainly is an element of 'magic' to it, sales is like any other skill, and just like it can be taught and trained.

It was not too long ago that practicing medicine was so magical it would make you the #2 in the tribe. Compare that to nowadays where based on education and training, pharmacists are available 24/7 at many local grocery stores.