Sales Joke of the Day (February 23) The Beer.

A salesman goes into a bar and orders a beer.  He takes a sip of the beer and a small voice says, "Nice Tie!"


The salesman looks around and doesn't see anyone. A little puzzled, he takes another sip, and again the voice says, "Nice shirt too!"


Now the salesman calls the bartender back and complains that every time he takes a sip of beer he hears a small voice. 


"Oh never mind that!" replied the bartender.  "That's just the peanuts!   They're complimentary!"


Moral of the story.   True sales professionals know that in order to succeed at sales you need to be part of a great team.   Sales can't succeed alone.  Marketing, support, engineering, finance, collections and human resources all contribute to your success.   Don't forget to pay them at least compliment from time to time.  After all, compliments are free!


"Everybody likes a compliment."     -   Abe Lincoln

Sales Joke of the Day (September 27) Visiting Aunty

It's late Friday afternoon and a salesman is visiting his aunt in the nursing home.  It turns out she is taking a nap, so he sits down in a chair in her room, flips through a few magazines and munches on some peanuts sitting in a bowl on the table.

Eventually, his aunt wakes up, and the salesman realizes he has absentmindedly finished her entire bowl of peanuts!

"I'm sorry, auntie, I've eaten all of your peanuts!" the salesman declares.

"That's okay dearie," his aunt replies.  "After I suck all the chocolate off, I don't really care for them anyway."

Moral of the story.  True sales professionals know that in order to be successful in sales they need to blaze their own trails.   Too often when starting a new sales job, the temptation is to immediately start going after the leads left behind by a predecessor.   Really?   If those leads were any good, wouldn't the old rep still be there?   Chances are the rep before you has already been through them and sold all the easy ones.   Calling those leads left behind would be like eating those peanuts after someone else has licked all the chocolate off.    Don't waste your time.

"A lazy person, whatever the talents, with which he set out, will have condemned himself to second-hand thoughts and to second-rate friends."        -     Cyril Connolly