Hooked On Selling
Hooked On Selling
Ever since I was a kid selling subscriptions for my Newsday paper route on Long Island, I knew I was meant to sell.
Don’t get me wrong, it hasn’t always been easy. Even with my paper route, I had to deal with a sinister looking Mr. Kuhl.
With those two missing front teeth and the glassy eyed look he had, he was always pushing me to get more orders. Sure I enjoyed selling and delivering the papers. And I really liked winning the prizes for winning the contests.
I didn’t realize this until many years later - but selling really isn’t selling.
Selling today is not about convincing and persuasion. It’s about helping buyers make good buying decisions. In fact, the more you try to convince and persuade, the more pushback you get – at least that’s been my experience.
I’m still hooked on selling!
The road to selling success is loaded with bumps, curves and potholes and you have to deal with all of them.
In one of my first sales positions, working for Baxter Healthcare and selling laboratory supplies, I remember calling on General Food’s Research Facility in Tarrytown New York.
I was young, cocky, and full of myself and determined to be successful. So, when I walked into the General Food’s main lobby, I asked Felicia, the receptionist, if I could speak to Brian N. – the purchasing agent.
She called him. He came out. He was a big guy. He was a really big guy and kinda walked real slow because of the weight he was carrying.
He motioned me over to a sofa. I enthusiastically reached out to shake his hand as I was introducing myself.
He then proceeded to burst my bubble.
He said, “So you’re with Scientific Products.”
I said, “Yes sir!”
He said without any hesitation, “We don’t buy anything from your company. As a matter of fact the only time would we even consider buying something from your company, is if we desperately needed it and there was no place else on the planet earth to get it.”
I was in shock.
Before I could say anything, he stood up and turned away from me and walked through the swinging doors back to his office.
What an experience. Felicia looked at me with what had to be an “I’m so sorry you had to experience that look.”
Well just remember this. Sometimes you have to be patient.
We had zero business when I inherited the account. Brian stuck to his guns and we had zero business during the first year I called on the General Foods.
Sometimes you have to wait until someone retires. Sometimes you have to wait until someone dies to get your foot in the door.
Well about a year after Brian met with me, for the one and only time, he retired. A year later he died.
And another year later, General Foods was my second largest account.
That’s why I’m hooked on selling.
What other job pays you according to your productivity – your sales?
What other job pays you what your worth – yup, in sales you’re paid what your worth?
What other job literally let’s you run your own business – for the most part?
That’s why I’m hooked on selling.
Selling is easy when you work hard at it.
Obviously selling isn’t the right cup of tea for everybody.
If you’re determined to achieve success for you and your family . . .
If you aspire to bigger and better things . . .
If you like to set and achieve goals . . .
And if you love the adrenalin rush you get when closing the sale . . .
And if you can accept the fact, “You can’t win them all . . .”
You can get hooked on selling too!
Finally, to be hooked on selling you gotta be hooked on learning.
Hooked On Selling - To learn more about this author, visit Jim Meisenheimer's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
I’m hooked on selling, how about you?
Ever since I was a kid selling subscriptions for my Newsday paper route on Long Island, I knew I was meant to sell.
Don’t get me wrong, it hasn’t always been easy. Even with my paper route, I had to deal with a sinister looking Mr. Kuhl.
With those two missing front teeth and the glassy eyed look he had, he was always pushing me to get more orders. Sure I enjoyed selling and delivering the papers. And I really liked winning the prizes for winning the contests.
I didn’t realize this until many years later - but selling really isn’t selling.
Selling today is not about convincing and persuasion. It’s about helping buyers make good buying decisions. In fact, the more you try to convince and persuade, the more pushback you get – at least that’s been my experience.
I’m still hooked on selling!
The road to selling success is loaded with bumps, curves and potholes and you have to deal with all of them.
In one of my first sales positions, working for Baxter Healthcare and selling laboratory supplies, I remember calling on General Food’s Research Facility in Tarrytown New York.
I was young, cocky, and full of myself and determined to be successful. So, when I walked into the General Food’s main lobby, I asked Felicia, the receptionist, if I could speak to Brian N. – the purchasing agent.
She called him. He came out. He was a big guy. He was a really big guy and kinda walked real slow because of the weight he was carrying.
He motioned me over to a sofa. I enthusiastically reached out to shake his hand as I was introducing myself.
He then proceeded to burst my bubble.
He said, “So you’re with Scientific Products.”
I said, “Yes sir!”
He said without any hesitation, “We don’t buy anything from your company. As a matter of fact the only time would we even consider buying something from your company, is if we desperately needed it and there was no place else on the planet earth to get it.”
I was in shock.
Before I could say anything, he stood up and turned away from me and walked through the swinging doors back to his office.
What an experience. Felicia looked at me with what had to be an “I’m so sorry you had to experience that look.”
Well just remember this. Sometimes you have to be patient.
We had zero business when I inherited the account. Brian stuck to his guns and we had zero business during the first year I called on the General Foods.
Sometimes you have to wait until someone retires. Sometimes you have to wait until someone dies to get your foot in the door.
Well about a year after Brian met with me, for the one and only time, he retired. A year later he died.
And another year later, General Foods was my second largest account.
That’s why I’m hooked on selling.
What other job pays you according to your productivity – your sales?
What other job pays you what your worth – yup, in sales you’re paid what your worth?
What other job literally let’s you run your own business – for the most part?
That’s why I’m hooked on selling.
Selling is easy when you work hard at it.
Obviously selling isn’t the right cup of tea for everybody.
If you’re determined to achieve success for you and your family . . .
If you aspire to bigger and better things . . .
If you like to set and achieve goals . . .
And if you love the adrenalin rush you get when closing the sale . . .
And if you can accept the fact, “You can’t win them all . . .”
You can get hooked on selling too!
Finally, to be hooked on selling you gotta be hooked on learning.
Hooked On Selling - To learn more about this author, visit Jim Meisenheimer's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
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Staging DivaDebra Gould, aka The Staging Diva®, is President of Six Elements Inc., an internationally recognized home staging company. Inspired by many requests from aspiring home stagers wanting to start similar businesses, Gould created the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program. Gould has trained over 1000 Staging Diva Graduates worldwide to start staging businesses. Buying decorating and selling six of her own homes in four years lead to an interest in real estate staging which she turned into a career with the launch of sixelements.com in 2002. Since then she has staged hundreds of homes in addition to teaching home staging training. Gould is the author of several home staging resources including a series of popular ebooks made up of a Design Guide, Color Guide and Portfolio Guide. For more information about Debra Gould visit stagingdiva.com. - Visit Staging Diva's Website |
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Jay Kubassek(Jay's Full Bio: EvanCarmichael.com/jaykubassek) In five years, Canadian-born entrepreneur Jay Kubassek went from selling mufflers at a Midas franchise to revolutionizing Internet marketing with the 2004 launch of CarbonCopyPRO, a online marketing education company, now worth over $20 million with customers in over 160 countries.
As an independent film producer, his upstart film fund Aliquot Films is currently producing a films with Spike Lee and Abel Fererra (starring Ethan Hawke and Dennis Hopper.)
Jay's entrepreneurial spirit is irrepressible. He’s the owner of five companies, a professional speaker and trainer, international real estate developer/investor, extreme sport enthusiast and emerging philanthropist. Jay resides in NYC with his wife Jamie, son Milo and dog Cooper. Visit Jay's official website: www.JayKubassek.com - Visit Jay Kubassek's Website |
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