The British novelist Dorothy Sayers wrote a handful of short stories that involved the murder-solving adventures of a commercial traveller (I love that phrase) named Montague Egg. Egg, who sold wine and spirits for an importer and distributor, made his rounds through the English countryside and discovered killers utilizing his amazing knowledge of his and other trades. Ever the salesman, Egg remembered the names and situations of all of those on his route.
Monty carried a collection of maxims called "The Salesman's Handbook" from which he drew wisdom. The stories are worth reading to glean these tidbits. I'm a sucker for the romantic elements of the sales life, as unromantic as they may seem to most. Order books. Clean, well-kept sample panels. Appointment diaries. Lead sheets.
There's a Zig Ziglar side to the sales equation, the near-crazed extrovert who bristles with energy and glad hands his way to success every day. More interesting to me is the mundane. I've sold to accounts and I've cold called for new business for ten years now in the building industry. The customers who are most loyal, who call me before thinking of contacting my competition, know they can depend on me for the detailed work. If I'm going to be in sales for the long haul (the money tells me I should plan on it), I'm going to cultivate the kind of relationships that can grow.
Nothing wrong with the Zig side. I used it when I sold vacuum cleaners. It works when you're going to see a person once, twice at the most if you don't deliver the item the night of the show. But when you're going to see the design consultant or the purchasing manager or the project manager once a week for years? Better treat them the way you plan to treat them next week.
