Bob [Incidentally] Gets Beaten in a Sales Contest:

I was age 20, smart, clean, white shirt and tie, looked the part, worked for a firm with about 200 reps at their Denton Branch, covering the North of England. Since joining I had always been in the Top 10 reps, some weeks it was 2nd or 3rd, but never top. One day they announced a sales contest, a 7 day holiday for two anywhere you want and £500 cash to spend. This was 1963. I knew I was going to win it and could visualise the look on my girlfriends face when I handed her the £500. 46 years later we are still together. I've taken her everywhere - but she keeps coming back.

Anywhere Monday morning arrived, a little guy, age 50, tells us in the firms yard that he'd won the contest, and somehow it doesn't seem possible. This guys not seen by his colleagues has a good salesman, he isn't full of energy and by our reckoning his a nobody. I had completed 38 sales that week, which was quite an achievement, yet HE said he had done 44. A rumour went around that he had cheated by either buying orders in from other reps, or he had employed a relative or two to go out selling for him. In effect [it was thought by us] his orders were the work of 3 people, not one. An argument took place with the sales manager about the number of orders he had produced, the Manager said he was working a fiddle- which he strongly denied, he got the contest award for top months rep- but they sacked him [fired him]

As you can imagine we were all curious about how he had done it - so we asked him to explain what he had been up to and this is his exact words: BEAR IN MIND WE WERE WORKING / SELLING OFF MAILED IN LEADS.

he said: You lot are all mugs, none of you can sell, you haven't a clue, all my orders are genuine, its because I know what I'm doing and you lot don't. So we asked him to explain / this is what he said; You lot go out, get inside on an appointment, demonstrate the machine, spend one hours of your time doing a dem [a demonstration] and its all a waste of time. Now what you should do is buy a van drivers warehouse coat, pull up outside the call, get the machine out, knock on the door and shout out [meaning tell the householder] I've got a delivery for you love - where should I put I put it for you?

It takes 5 minutes TO DELIVER and theres no demonstration or selling involved, and they all take it in. Admittedly you get the odd one who says; " Hey, hold on a minute, I didn't order it, I just enquired, I asked for details, but if thats the case you say to them; Sorry, but it says here you've ordered it, so do you want it, or don't you? He said they all reply; O' okay, put it over there, how much do we owe you - then they pay for it. Finance was available so anyone without the cash just signed the finance documents for it.

STUDY THIS, i HAVE, IT INDICATES PERHAPS THAT MAYBE WE ALL OVERSELL, AND MAYBE PUT TOO MUCH EFFORT INTO OUR SELLING PRACTICES. ILLEGAL YES, ETHICAL - NO, BUT WHAT A SALES LESSON.