Monday, June 18, 2012

The Super Salesman



Perhaps a long forgotten post may come handy when one is snowed under by blocks and lack of ideas. A total famine of topics and one gropes around in the dark. Something here , to feel enlivened. I guess.


 
This is the story about a sales man, a Super salesman!

 Into a department store in the English country side, one late summer day, walked in a salesman. In fact he was not a salesman, not yet. He was prospecting for the position. The young fellow managed to get to the General Manager of the store and put forth his resume and his case. All that he could tell the General Manager from a persuasive point was that he was a sales man and he would appreciate the sales job in the store. Though the credentials where vague and rather plain the General Manager decided to take a call on the fellow and then conclude a judgment of the fellow for the job. He offered to put him on probation for a week and would reach a decision after surveying his skills in selling.

  Later in the week the General Manager walked into the floor of the store and watched from a distance the young lad selling a fishing rod to a customer. The young fellow was enlightening the prospective customer about the fishing rod and smartly convinced the client about its quality and value. He concluded the sale. He then continued and offered the customer a choice of buying a can of superior quality fishing worms. The sale was done too. The lad was in no mood to let the client go. He suggested that the weekend might be a bit cold and nippy as it being the fag end of autumn and would be perfect if he could keep a mackintosh, which would be handy while he fishes by the stream in the woods. It did not take long to convince the customer about the comfort and quality the mackintosh can offer. The sale was done too. The young sales apprentice continued, “Sir we have some fascinating new books to choose and you can read them in comfort while you fish and wait for the bait to do its job. I strongly recommend, you buy one and enjoy the week end fishing trip”. The customer was acknowledged that was a good proposition and he chose and bought a book as well.

The General Manager who was keenly observing the sales was awed and went to the sales man and tapped him appreciatively on his back. “Well done young fellow! But let me ask you how the heck did you managed to sell all these assortments to a guy who came in here to buy a fishing rod?”

The apprentice sales man politely said, “Sir he did not come in here to buy a fishing rod! In fact he came here to buy a pack of sanitary napkins for his wife and I suggested that he go fishing this week end”.

12 comments:

Shilpa Garg said...

Amazing!! He sure is a super salesman!! :D

NRIGirl said...

Good one!

Interesting twist in the end... I wonder what he would have sold if the wife had done the shopping herself...

Ramakrishnan said...

Super salesman are naturals with unending enthusiasm and flair and a magnetism about them !

sujata sengupta said...

that was an amazing post. Hats off to all super salesmen!!

Kavita Saharia said...

Ha haa! Super salesman indeed.I fear the kind.

Rama Ananth said...

Even I have seen some salesmen who are very enthusiastic. However, as the manager of the shop, I would have warned him to stop, for after sometime, the customer, would realize what he is being led into and would walk off without buying anything, leaving the salesman struggling in his own net.
It is a nice story, in fact a lesson to be learnt, by anyone trying to be a sales person, not to go over board, despite the fact, that the salesman in the story successfully sold a lot of unwanted things to the customer.

BK Chowla, said...

An ideal story and a lesson to be taught in all those institutions promoting marketing courses.
I have been a salesman all my life,I would accept him as mu Guru.

anilkurup59 said...

@ Shilpa Garg/ @ NRIGirl/@ R.Ramakrishnan/@ Sujata/@ rama

Thanks for the comments. I hope you got the gist of the man's selling plot.

@ Kavita,

Thanks. Yes his kind throws us off.

@BK.Chowla,
I agree with you. He can be a Guru of selling

Felicity Grace Terry said...

Wow, that's one amazing salesman though I share the concerns of rama.

Ruprekha said...

What an amazing story! Quite a trick :) Indeed a super salesman :)No wonder I avoid talking to these guys leave alone taking their advice :)

Insignia said...

Amazing I must say :) Thoroughly enjoyed the story

Unknown said...

WOW.... excellent and interesting material here. So useful for me. Thanks for publishing.
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