Dela Cruz, Micaella Ryza

BSBA

5 professional salesperson's biography and their philosophies in selling.

1. Mary Kay Ash

She is considered a pioneer for business women. Just like Ogilvy, Ash too had
humble beginnings, selling books door-to-door.

Her main sales tactic involved convincing women to host parties where they
would sell to their friends. The principle behind this was that people are more
likely to buy from friends rather than strangers. Another signature strategy was
the use of sales incentives. Her company made headlines for awarding the top
salesperson with a pink Cadillac.

2. Joe Girard

He started his business career at the tender age of 9. Initially, he was a shoe
shiner, moving on to become a news carrier at 11. For every new customer, he
got a box of Pepsi-Cola and soon established a soda pop business, selling at
unbeatable prices to neighborhood kids.

After struggling through life and finally landing a job as a car salesperson, he
realized he was good at selling cars. He set the record for selling 13,001 cars in a
span of 15 years, once selling a whopping 18 cars in one day.

He sold more than just cars. Girard always told customers to come back and
would take great care of them when they came for service, even paying for parts.
He would also keep sending handwritten greeting cards to his customers every
month.

3. Dale Carnegie came from a really humble background. In spite of this, he

realized early on that he had a way with words and went on to become a pioneer
in modern sales.
He was so good at public speaking that his college mates were willing to pay him
to get his skills. Soon, he started adult public speaking classes, and two years
afterward, he founded the Dale Carnegie Institute. The book mentioned at the
onset was his second and has sold over 8 million copies to date.

4. Zig Ziglar

He started out as a humble salesman, becoming exceptionally good at it, and later
went on to be a renowned author.

As a salesperson, he started out selling pots and pans, and later cooking
equipment. Following his success at sales, he became field manager and later,
supervisor. Later, he left sales to become a full-time public speaker and then
started authoring books.

In his lectures and writings, he taught attitudes needed to succeed in life and
professionally.

5. Erica Feidner

She was a force to reckon with in the field. During her career, she sold at least $40
million worth of Steinway Pianos, a product with little repeat purchase and long
sales cycles.

She was able to bring out a passion for piano in people who had never played nor
had musical ambitions. Feidner insisted that she was not a salesperson, but
rather, a matchmaker matching customers to their perfect pianos.

She would take her time to teach novices the basics of piano playing. For more
seasoned players, she would listen to them play and guide them to the right
instrument for their needs. Her secret was preparing for every sale and tailoring
each session to the client’s needs.