Sales Historian

Bringing the brains from #saleshistory’s past to today - from @tcaponi, 3x author & host of The Sales History podcast. (also on IG)

[Sales Historian @SalesHistorian]

“If you want to know how much you will be missed when you quit your job, stick your finger into the ocean, pull it out, and look for the hole – if the ocean is not handy, a bucket of water will do.” - Sheldon (~ 1920)

[Sales Historian @SalesHistorian]

"The salesman who realizes that his main job is to give helpful service rather than to get big orders will find that his sales record improves in direct proportion to his improving sense of service." - George H. Read, The New Salesmanship

[Sales Historian @SalesHistorian]

Great sales quote on the cover of the October 17th, 1917 edition of Business Digest.
"The super-salesman will not only study the immediate needs of his customers, but he will provide against those needs even before the customers realize that they exist." - Charles M. Schwab

[Sales Historian @SalesHistorian]

Frank Farrington, in his 1918 book The Successful Salesman, encouraged his readers to read! I'd argue that today, knowledge isn't only cheap; it's a commodity. You'd better be in a constant pursuit of it...

[Sales Historian @SalesHistorian]

In a 1955 article for "Today's Speech" magazine, Northwestern University Professor Thorne resented the idea that teaching was any form of salesmanship. Here, he rants about the sales profession. 😬

[Sales Historian @SalesHistorian]

From 1950's "Birth of a Salesman", James Quillian Maxwell wrote about how people hate to have any anxiety or betrayal of voice, and that you should always "Leave them the impression that they BOUGHT, not that you SOLD!"

[Sales Historian @SalesHistorian]

We've explored the first three on the "Sales" Mount Rushmore. Today, I bring you the story and some of the incredible writing of Worthington C. Holman, the "Ginger Man", who taught an emerging sales and sales leadership profession how to write. Get it wherever you listen.

[Sales Historian @SalesHistorian]

The sales profession lost a legend yesterday: Mike Bosworth.

From Xerox to founding Solution Selling in 1983, his books and teaching helped generations understand buyers’ problems and connect through stories.

His influence lives on. Rest in peace, Mike.

[Todd Caponi @tcaponi]

A legend of the sales profession has passed away today: Mike Bosworth.

From Xerox to founding Solution Selling in 1983 and co-authoring CustomerCentric Selling, Mike helped shape how generations of B2B salespeople sell.

RIP Mike.

[Sales Historian @SalesHistorian]

Whoa...I'm with H.T. Mac Lane in terms of his advice for business hours...but outside of them? I'm not a big onion guy, but I do enjoy a good whiskey. 😉 This, from a 1904 edition of Salesmanship Magazine.

[Sales Historian @SalesHistorian]

It's October...and according to an October 1956 article in Salesman's Opportunity Magazine, NOW is the time to be calling on your customers, as this is when they're all nailing down their end-of-year spend!

[Sales Historian @SalesHistorian]

I've planned, ran, and now speak at lots of sales/revenue kickoffs. Haven't been to any with the "blondes", "magicians", and "tumblers" Haas refers to in his 1957 book, How to Develop Successful Salesmen. Wait! We did have David Blaine at an ExactTarget event once! 😁 #sko

[Sales Historian @SalesHistorian]

Ever wonder where the phrase "hire slow, fire fast" comes from? Well, it's at least 124 years old. Here's a version of it written by G.H. Lorimer in his 1902 book, Letters from a Self-Mad Merchant to His Son

[Sales Historian @SalesHistorian]

Some good advice for face-to-face salespeople from Percy H. Whiting in 1947. If your breath stinks, stay back! (By the way, his book, The Five Great Rules of Selling, is what initially got me into sales history)

[Sales Historian @SalesHistorian]

Another episode of The Sales History Podcast is out. Today, it's "The 1926 Sales Dictionary: The Sales Terminology of 100 Years Ago"...and some of these old terms and phrases might deserve a place today :) Get it wherever you listen, or here: https://t.co/TDF111Uj9L

[Sales Historian @SalesHistorian]

Funny (at least to me) reading Mrs. Diana Hirschler, teaching salesmanship in a Boston public school, talking about unnecessary discovery in 1904.

#salestips #salesdiscovery #saleshistory #historyofsales

[Sales Historian @SalesHistorian]

I've been on a bit of a sales-history-book-buying binge. This is my pile of new adds to my "sales history museum"...so, if you need me, I'll probably be ear-deep in them. From 1886 (a book that's actually on speaking) all the way to 3 "sales history" books (1964-1972).

[Sales Historian @SalesHistorian]

This quote is 106 years old...and advocated for in similar quotes all over LinkedIn today like it's a new concept. :) Make buyers smarter about their own business first! Harry Kitson in 1920...

[Sales Historian @SalesHistorian]

What disruptive technology were all the magazines talking about in the sales profession, 100 years ago today? The use of airplanes! Salespeople spent a lot of time traveling. What was the ROI on the time saved by flying? Huge.

[Sales Historian @SalesHistorian]

A favorite from 1916. Nilas Oran Shively is saying, "This does not mean a salesman is to fight", but it sure sounds like you should be ready to, right?