12 Sales Stories For Christmas – if you can’t work out what the problem is, give us a call!

• The sales guy who was spotted asleep at the wheel of his car outside a major customer (missing his appointment) with a copy of Covey’s 7 Habits shielding his face from the sun.
• The sales guy who couldn’t be bothered to attend the Power of Positive Thinking course.
• The sales guy who always wondered what autodidactic means?
• The sales manager who surprised his team with a (and we’re quoting) ‘fantastic motivational bonus’ in this month’s pay packet.
• A sales director telling her manager to be more consultative.
• In 2006 CEO stating women make great salespeople because they can ‘use special techniques with male buyers’.
• What about two salespeople from different divisions of the same company turning up to see the same customer in ignorance of the others plans? Their meeting in reception and having a public row has become a talking point with their customer’s procurement team.
• The sales director ordering new Blackberry's for everyone but being the only one with the top of the range colour model.
• A director saying they wouldn’t be taking a pay rise, getting lots of plaudits, and then quietly and confidentially accepting one when group mandated it should be taken.
• A very bright person attending a workshop on taking ownership for contributing to sales change and saying (without irony) when leaving the programme, ‘A good day, but we’ll see what happens’.
• A large number of sales organisations paying a single bonus for achieving the budgeted numbers and wondering why salespeople don’t ‘punch through’ them and go after even higher numbers.
• A sales manager going customer visiting with a team member, and asking to be picked up at the airport at 9.30am and needing to be back for their flight at  3.30pm. Their quarter’s performance improvement theme was, you guessed it, productivity.

If you would like to share your howlers from 2006 (anonymously will be fine!) please send them to:

Claudine McClean
T:  01789 734400
E: claudinem@salespathways.com

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© SalesPathways Ltd. 2006

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