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Book Summary: The E-Myth Revisited
Ever wonder why most small businesses-- no matter how huge effort they put in their endeavor--still fail? Micheal Gerber reveals the answers in this book. Accordingly, the future of small businesses revolve in only three philosophies: the...

Dialogue: The Four Dialogic Principles For Successful Communication
"But you don't understand!" exclaimed the manager, "this new initiative is vital for our team. If it doesn't work we could all be out of a job!" "Uh-huh... Really... Explain to me again how this new initiative is so different from previous...

Sales 201: Learning Tools of Your Trade
Copyright 2005 Daniel Sitter A carpenter has his saw and hammer. A writer has his pen and ink. A doctor has her medical instruments and medicine. An accountant has his calculator. A mechanic has his wrenches. What of the salesperson? What are the...

Use Magnetic Gift Cards To Skyrocket Restaurant Sales and Profits
Gift Card and Gift Certificate Management Software The History of Gift Cards Whoever created the idea of gift certificates was a marketing genius. The idea of taking someones money (which is valid anywhere) and giving them a...

Which of These 7 Mistakes Are You Making In MLM?
You've done it. You've signed up with a network marketing company. You're ready to get started with your teams advertising system. You're ready, set, go. All the ads hit, you're excited. Like a kid who can't wait to go to Disney World, you wait...

 
Confessions of a Reluctant Saleswoman

This article may be reproduced in its entirety as long as the resource box at the bottom in included.

Confessions of a Reluctant Saleswoman

By Joyce M. Coleman

Like many of my generation and upbringing, I never thought of myself as a saleswoman.

When I was growing up in Mississippi, insurance salesmen and others who managed to find their way to our home way out in the country were met with skepticism. While we were happier
to see the Watkins man (yes, they were men) who drove from county to county to sell bedspreads, blankets, Watkins
products, candy, and you-name-it from the backs of their station wagons, it still was a pretty risky business, all
things considered.

Can you imagine making a living driving unpaved, country back roads, dodging farm animals, and rugged hunters with
large guns? Ugh!

As a black girl in pre-civil rights Locust Hill, Mississippi, I grew up believing that selling was not a
desirable or dependable profession. Through example and overt instruction, I was taught that my goal in life was to
get an education and become a teacher. If God intervened, I might get a good, solid job with a strong, reputable company and, through association garner even more respect than teachers and preachers. Couldn't get any better than that!

But selling? Not an option. (No one ever explained why sellers, including local fishermen, always had cash!).

So, the notion of selling never entered my mind. Although my brother and I were constantly tinkering, and hoped to one day write that great novel, new song, or develop the ultimate gadget, it never dawned on us that we'd have to
sell our creation. I guess we thought that if we built a better mousetrap, the world would magically find out about
it and beat a path to our door. Ha!

Childhood notions of our great creations took a back seat, as I made sure that I could get "a good job" (no selling). I earned a degree in Chemistry and Mathematics, but soon
discovered by trial-and-error that being a chemist or traditional teacher did not fit with my spirit. That
reality check sent me searching for an alternative. While searching, I figured I'd have a good time and see the world. I landed squarely in corporate America, where I learned
lessons that were not taught in Locust Hill.

One of my first lessons was to live is to sell! The first product I sold was ME. Imagine! It's 1968 and I am
convincing an international world-class airline that an afro'ed young black woman is the ideal candidate to be one
of its stewardesses across the Atlantic. It's 1969, and that same young woman is the ideal candidate for a management position. This process continued every few years, including
selling them on the notion that I should be the industry's first black corporate female executive.

In corporate America I earned my stripes by selling my employees, bosses, and customers on the reality that I brought better than a square deal to the table. I promised a lot, and over-delivered on the promise. However, I never thought of it as selling. I simply practiced what I'd been taught during my childhood - put your best foot forward at all times, know your stuff, always give more than you take, and show respect for others.

I have learned that no matter


what we do, we must sell something - our ideas, our capability to produce a product
or service, or someone else's ideas, goods and services. Even the heroes of my childhood - teachers and preachers -
must sell their customers on the notion that they bring value to the table.

In effect, all of us sell each day of our lives. Those who excel at it deliver on their promise; their products and services bring added value to their users. Those who purchase them tell their friends, who tell their friends, and so on.

For me, it has been a long road to realizing that one has little control over one's destiny and wealth as long as
there is dependency on a corporation or some entity (other than oneself) for employment. At the end of the day, we must look to our personal capabilities to support our family and ourselves. Just ask any of the hundreds of thousands who were recently laid off through no fault of their own, or
read lessons learned by millionaires.

It has been an equally long road for me to become sufficiently confident to develop some of those creations my
brother and I attempted back in Locust Hill. I've known for some time that people who need my expertise, and who will be happy to trade money for its value, will not find out about
it through osmosis. I must let them know about it, just as I happily touted the goods and services of my corporation all those years. Expertise, brainpower, or product, no matter how wonderful, must be successfully marketed, or "sold."

As I more closely examine my evolving notion of selling, I realize that it isn't "selling" that makes me such a
reluctant participant in an arena that creates wealth faster than any other. (By the way, it is also the fastest way to get ahead in the corporate world). It is my link to a childhood misunderstanding of the wonderful act of providing people with something that actually fulfills a dream, makes
lives easier, and provides financial freedom for so many. Each time I receive a thank you for sharing my
opportunity, book, time, or words of wisdom, I am so thankful that I've learned to appreciate the marvel of selling.

My reluctance has turned into eagerness and gratefulness as I continue to discover ways to put my own brainpower and skills to good use, on what I consider to be relatively close to my own terms. Each day I seek out new
opportunities that I share with my new and lifelong friends. Together, we are embracing the wealth-building
wonders made possible to each of us through modern technology.

Copyright 2001 Joyce M. Coleman. All rights reserved, except as noted above.

http://www.locusthillpublishing.com. Joyce Coleman is author of acclaimed book, Soul Stirrings - How looking
back gives each of us the freedom to move forward. Subscribe to her newsletter, The Business of Life at
http://www.locusthillpublishing.com/newsletter/newsletter_subscribe.html for practical tools that enhance living. Includes self improvement, wealth-
building, family issues, recipes.

About the Author

Joyce Coleman is an acclaimed author, online publisher, speaker, and consultant. She lives in St. Louis, Missouri. Her articles are widely published, and some of her other works can be found at the Mississippi Museum of History and Archives.

 

SellingPower.com | Solutions For Sales Management
Targeted to sales managers and upper tier sales professionals, this magazine helps you train, educate, and motivate your sales team.
www.sellingpower.com
 
Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management
The official web site of the Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management has moved to the University of Missouri, Columbia, which is the home of the ...
mkt.cba.cmich.edu
 
Management Articles
Sales Management. Unleash Your Brand Ambassadors. A recent GlaxoSmithKline decision took the advertising industry by storm: The pharmaceutical giant ...
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Manage Smarter - Performance Gateway
Manage Smarter is the online home of sales & marketing management, incentive, potential, presentations and training magazine.
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The 5 Biggest Sales Management Blunders
Learn the biggest sales management blunders and how you can avoid them. Spending the necessary time wearing your sales manager hat will help foster a ...
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DEI Sales Management
Stephan Schiffman's DEI- Management Group, offers sales training tools and educational forums designed to teach: Cold Calling and Closing Techniques, ...
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Offers sales and sales management training. Sign up to receive the monthly newsletter.
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Sales Management Resource International
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Reconnect Sales Management to Profitability - HBS Working Knowledge
"Work your pay plan" is one of the central tenets of sales management. ... In a similar way, top managers can reconnect their sales management to ...
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Amazon.com: Sales Management: Books: Robert J. Calvin
Amazon.com: Sales Management: Books: Robert J. Calvin by Robert J. Calvin.
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Amazon.com: Seven Secrets to Successful Sales Management: The ...
Amazon.com: Seven Secrets to Successful Sales Management: The Sales Manager's Manual: Books: Jack D. Wilner by Jack D. Wilner.
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Personal Selling and Sales Management: KnowThis.com
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Sales Training and Sales Management: KnowThis.com
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SMR Career Services
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SalesVantage.com: B2B Advertising, Marketing and Sales Management ...
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Contact Management Software, Contact Manager & Sales Software for ...
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Sales Management Training
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Content Menu
  • 10 critical questions to ask before hiring a consultant

  • 10 lessons for every shoestring entrepreneur

  • 10 profit boosting tips to increase the success of your affiliate program

  • 10 reasons why companies should start doing business online

  • 10 ways for entrepreneurs to find more time

  • 11 secrets to leadership in sales

  • 11 ways to elevate your sales

  • 3 steps to turning ok sales into unbelieveable results

  • 5 tips for savvy use of your home equity line of credit

  • 6 steps to laying out your competitive strategy

  • 7 explosive strategies to maximize your google adwords campaigns

  • 7 tips for product enhancement to increase your sales

  • 8 procedures to take control of sales and marketing

  • alarming marketing trend

  • are you still broke with 10 000 people in your downline

  • army ranger reveals how to control corporate stress

  • assumptions the hidden sales killer

  • astute pricing by sales representatives can expand profit

  • a new look for business in the future

  • a power technique for boosting sales

  • a profitable growth formula for sales managers

  • a real crm strategy or just tracking customers

  • bankers in denial

  • black belt sales meeting moves

  • book summary the e myth revisited

  • boost profits dramatically with consignment sales

  • boost your business sales with credit card payment solutions

  • building an email marketing list

  • businesses should specialise not generalise

  • business after the iraqi war

  • can a sales leaseback arrangement make investing in orlando investment more safe and reliable

  • cash flow management

  • cash flow profits and the cash conversion cycle

  • celebrating successes the power of compliments

  • characteristics of high performance teams

  • coaching for success

  • commodity sales prospecting ‹¨« how to stand out from your competitors

  • communicating value

  • conducting business through b2b e marketplaces

  • confessions of a reluctant saleswoman

  • create a positive upbeat can do workforce and dazzle the customer with your caring

  • creating your internet marketing plan

  • crm for beginners customer relationship management basics

  • crm sfa that accelerates sales the sales process integration approach

  • customer service and call center outsourcing whats the buzz

  • dialogue the four dialogic principles for successful communication

  • does your business need a toll free 800 number

  • doing business online private b2b exchanges

  • domain name and web hosting hell

  • dont shoot the sales team

  • do you feel overwhelmed running a web business try this

  • do you have a picture of your customer

  • do you need a personal assistant

  • easily slash your comms costs using web conferencing

  • education and outsourcing 2 ways to improve your business

  • einstein definition of insanity

  • entrepreneurship what does it really mean

  • financial services marketing insights a marketing compass

  • finding rest for the direct sales company mom

  • first the key to successful sales

  • five dirt cheap ways to increase sales in your cleaning business

  • five strategies to strengthen your companys financial management

  • five tips for analyzing an income statement

  • five top tips for a prosperous 2004

  • forecasting and surviving a layoff or downsizing

  • gaining business intelligence

  • get coached

  • good bye bobby knight and all the sales managers like you

  • grants loans free credit cards and credit repair the whole truth and nothing but the truth

  • hiring and retaining good employees

  • hiring the best sales athletes

  • how to beat the 80 20 rule in sales performance part 1

  • how to beat the 80 20 rule in sales performance part 2

  • how to build a repeat client base in automobile sales

  • how to create multiple revenue streams for your home business

  • how to create your own successful and profitable affiliate program

  • how to cut duty cost and increase profit as an importer

  • how to decrease profits without really trying

  • how to define your companys sales job part 1

  • how to define your companys sales job part 2

  • how to easily increase your profits

  • how to enhance quality in your business

  • how to find an investment advisor

  • how to get money back for your process and procedures investments

  • how to get rich with network marketing

  • how to identify a problem solver

  • how to improve your management procedures usability

  • how to increase sales with automation improvements

  • how to join the 5 of internet business real money making pros regardless of the products you sell

  • how to maximize account penetration and jump start sales

  • how to maximize sales by minimizing windshield time

  • how to meet quality standards with iso 9001

  • how to promote your home business with ebooks

  • how to start a business plan

  • how you can learn to be a better manager

  • hunters and gatherers are you serving both their needs

  • hurdles to cross cultural business communication

  • if it was easy everybody would do it

  • if one does not do any planning one is planning to fail

  • increase sales in your home business with these 10 simple ideas

  • increase your income through international trade

  • increase your influence increase your sales

  • increase your pipeline deploying the cost effective sales team

  • increase your sales by 30 using internet collaboration networks

  • increasing sales with customer interaction points

  • index

  • industry pro interview expanding your market reach for more sales

  • internet marketing vs forex currency trading

  • introducing a mystery shopping program employees

  • investors avoid these 5 common tax mistakes

  • iso 9001 compliant program steps to build

  • is it time to hit the reset button on your sales department

  • is your business profitable

  • is your company growing fast enough for you

  • keeping your sales team motivated

  • leadership lessons for sales managers

  • leveraging open source technology

  • like it or notyoure in sales

  • lone wolf lead wolf

  • looking for a direct sales party plan company do you know what questions to ask

  • making sales online is easy isnt it

  • making sales online is easy isn t it

  • managing your business cash flow

  • maximize your home based business website sales

  • menu driven business planning

  • money management

  • multiply your sales

  • networking 101

  • network marketing book lovers guide 10 hot reads in 2005

  • no degree no problem

  • online success

  • only the weak ones quit

  • organization tips how to set up your database

  • outsourcing not just for big business

  • overcoming barriers to sales

  • overcoming sales objections for small business networks

  • overcoming small business networks sales objections

  • part 1 of 5 how pipe dreams can become realities

  • part 1 of 5 on the home business set up guide

  • part 2 of 5 how pipe dreams can become realities

  • part 2 of 5 on the home business set up guide

  • part 3 of 5 how pipe dreams can become realities

  • part 4 of 5 how pipe dreams can become realities

  • part 5 of 5 how pipe dreams can become realities

  • paypal dedication can leave your business exposed

  • phone interviews prepare to ace them

  • phone tips to get things done professional phone skills

  • planning to make a decision

  • ppc management when to give up on a loser

  • profitable growth is everyones business a book summary

  • properties for sale in cyprus please visit www propertyincyprus com

  • pr where it matters most

  • public relations defining your organization from the inside out

  • results of poor cross cultural awareness

  • riding the sales rollercoaster

  • rotator

  • rư eoc recruitment and retention employer of choice

  • sales 201 learning tools of your trade

  • sales activity report for management

  • sales and marketing terminology

  • sales and the importance of following up

  • sales commission what return should you expect on your sales compensation investment

  • sales leads how to generate quality sales leads through public speaking

  • sales lessons from the election

  • sales partners agents distributors licensing and franchises

  • sales performance and motivation how to get your edge back

  • sales planning

  • sales process how to avoid wasting time on prospects who cant or wont pay

  • sales process the secret to closing more sales

  • sales process what can you automate

  • sales success the 5 steps

  • sales territory management how to prioritize your activities to produce maximum results

  • securing second and third round venture capital financing

  • selecting sales tracking software for your small business

  • selling is easy when youre first fast and foremost

  • selling sales to customer service agents

  • seven cs to avoid procedure writing errors

  • short messaging service sms for enterprise messaging

  • should i stop wasting my salespeople on prospecting

  • six components of a good e commerce site

  • smart choices how to hire the best

  • spam whats the real problem

  • stop being a salesperson

  • stop waste fraud and abuse

  • strategic planning for salespeople

  • strategies for creating a niche business

  • survival tips for small businesses

  • swot analysis

  • telesales success begin with the end in mind

  • the 11 secrets to sales leadership

  • the biggest mistake in sales prospecting

  • the challenges of human resource management

  • the death of the loyal customer

  • the diamond cutter

  • the game plan the difference between small business success and failure

  • the inside scoop on mutual fund rip offs

  • the ins and outs of article submissions

  • the keys to buying motivation unlock the door to sales success

  • the key to high volume web sales

  • the millionaires favorite author

  • the new ways to do the business mba or cio

  • the perfect mutual fund

  • the road to opportunity in wholesale distribution

  • the sales trail

  • the secret to beating tiger woods at golf and its correlation to success in business

  • the six most common barriers to sales success

  • the steps from product idea to product success

  • the three most common mistakes sales managers make

  • the top 10 priorities that guard your five star reputation

  • the traits of great sales leaders

  • the world has changed what is a sales professional to do

  • this old business

  • thoughtleading the art of separating yourself from the pack

  • trade show tactics revealed

  • transform yourself from a salesperson into a businessperson

  • understanding ezine publishing

  • use magnetic gift cards to skyrocket restaurant sales and profits

  • using the internet automation as tools for salespeople

  • venture leasing a smarter way to build enterprise value

  • web conferencing a boon to businesss

  • whats a professional sales manager

  • what 80 of businesses dont know tips for improving your working capital management

  • what is an investor ready business plan

  • which of these 7 mistakes are you making in mlm

  • who says i cant offer this property for rent

  • why mobile sms text messaging

  • why performance based recruiting produces top sales performers

  • why small businesses fail or fail to thrive

  • why suppliers should use b2b exchanges

  • will your home business succeed or fail

  • work at home business ideas

  • work from home 5 required steps to generate sales

  • work priorities where can you spend your time most effectively

  • yesterdays hero