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Salesmen and Saleswomen: We Salute You

The Academy for Chief Executives, a leading provider of experiential business learning® facilitates groups of CEOs and Managing Directors who meet together every month to network and take full advantage of experiential learning. Part of membership involves members taking their issues to the table and discussing them with their peers. This month, one of my members raised the issue of how to get people into a selling mode with regard to their mindset.

It was concluded by the group that selling as a profession was less accepted in the UK, than say the USA. Companies would go out of their way to use language other than sales or selling, such as marketing, merchandising, distribution, product movement, or any other number of cryptic descriptions. It was concluded that in order to change the mindset, people involved in the selling process must be proud of their profession and to make this point, I am including a poem which I have long believed to be instrumental in helping people to have a greater understanding and respect for sales.

THE SALESMAN

When labour toils and factories hum,
And out plant doors the products come,
The payment for it comes from.
The Salesman.

In any business office where
White-collar workers earn their share,
They all should thank in grateful prayer,
The Salesman

When banks and institutions lend
The funds on which the firms depend
For finance, they, too, have a friend.
The Salesman

And miles of gleaming railroad track
And roads and highways there and back
Could not exist without his knack.
The Salesman

So ‘cross the land, behind each door,
Are worlds of wealth and goods galore.
They’d ne’er be there – were it not for.
The Salesman

Yes, others may salute their trade,
The contributions they have made;
But it’s for him that I’ll parade.
The Salesman

For it is sales that keeps us free,
That fuel our great democracy,
And that is why I’m proud to be.
A Salesman

Joe AdamsThis was one of the best issue sessions of the year!

Joe Adams,
Chairman, Academy Group 11

For confidentiality reasons we cannot divulge all of the advice provided by our members – however, we do hold open meetings where guests are able to attend and experience for themselves the real power of ‘The Board You Could Never Afford’®. To find out how you can take advantage of advice like this every month, visit www.chiefexecutive.com.

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