Arriving at the fraternity house, he knocked on the door and waited for an answer. Eventually a sleepy voice opened a second-floor window and called down: "What do you want?"
"Does Jack Smith live here?" asked the salesman.
"Yeah," replied the voice from the second-floor window. "Dump him on the front porch and we'll hose him off again in the morning like usual."
Moral of the story. True sales professionals know that in order to be successful at sales, they must have a solid reputation. Everyone earns a degree when they graduate college. But those are just words on a piece of paper. One's reputation is built up over time, by one's actions and one's network. Good networking is not simply a question of growing one's network, it also involves severing any relations with those who intentionally go out of their way to cause you harm or sully your reputation.
"Associate with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation; for it is better to be alone than in bad company." - George Washington
