A SALESPERSON STORY

There is a belief on the part of many salespeople that the sale is made in an office or
in the mind of the client they are presenting it to. Nothing could be further from the
truth.

J. Douglas Edwards tells a story that really makes the point. It is a about the new
salesperson that joins a paper supply company. He completes his training and as a
last step he is invited to the office of the President for a short talk.

The Presidents greets him warmly and tells the new salesman that they have great
hope for him. Further, he (president) tells the salesman that to get him started, they
are going to send him to a man down the street that the company has been doing
business with for so many years.

Now the President says to the salesperson, “This man that I am sending you to is a
very difficult person. As you sit with him, he will give you a very bad time and it will
appear that he is not going to buy, but we know from experience that if you hang in
there, refusing to be scared, he will eventually give you the order. So no matter what
man says, you hang in there and keep pressing for the order”. The new salesman
thanks the president and leaves to make his first sales call, Later the day, he returns
with a very large order and is again ushered into the president’s office to report on
his experience.

The Salesman says, “you were right sir, the man proved to be very difficult and gave
me extremely bad time, but I hung in there and guess what, he did give me a very
large order, bigger I believe than anyone has ever written in the company.
“Marvelous”, the President says, “let me see it”. He took the order and looked at it,
and was immediately taken back. “My God man, you went to the wrong fellow. In
the twenty years we have never been able to do any business with this man. We had
long ago written this fellow off”.