Building a successful business takes a lot of preparation, planning, research, and a bit of luck. But the only characteristic of any profitable business, large or small, is that it has customers! The legendary Henry Ford once said this: “It is not the employer who pays the wages. Employers only handle the money. It is the customer who pays the wages.” Makes a lot of sense, doesn’t it? Therefore, to sell, service and retain these customers, all organizations, no matter what industry or sector they are in, must first find customers. The creation and success of a sales and marketing arm can therefore be the main deciding factor in whether a company survives, is defeated, or thrives. The bottom line is, and always has been, that without sales and marketing, there are no customers or customers, therefore no revenue. So it is logical to think that without income there is no survival. So now that we are clear that sales and marketing are a must, let’s review where they started, discuss where they are now, and look at where they are going.

A great author once said, “I find it useful to remember that everyone lives by selling something.” OK

, how many of you guessed Zig Ziglar? (If you don’t know who HE is, then he’s never been in sales or he’s just not paying attention!) How many thought of Tom Hopkins (see above)? Maybe not a sales guru, maybe it was the great Napoleon Hill, who wrote one of my favorites, Think and Get Rich, right? Maybe it was a movie character, like Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas’s unscrupulous character on “Wall Street”)? You’re not even close He’s not even someone from the 20th century, not even an American! Would you believe it was the prolific Scotsman who wrote Treasure Island in 1883, Robert Louis Stevenson? So even before the Industrial Revolution, the importance of sales was evident 188Bet.

If you think about it, even if you are not in the sales profession, you are selling every day. Are you a parent? Yes, you are on sale!

Trying to negotiate with your seven-year-old son to go to bed, eat his vegetables, or the myriad other problems he faces makes him a salesman. Have a date? Oh yeah, sales. You are trying to convince this person that you are the perfect and compatible match for them, be it for that night or for a lifetime. Looking for a better grade on an exam at school? Interviewing for a new job? Stopped for speeding? You get the idea.

In ancient times, we have heard many stories that make us laugh. As in the Old West, when men traveled from town to town in their mysterious carts with “magic” elixirs, mysterious medicines, and even rain for drought-stricken farmers. Ever heard the phrase “snake oil salesman”? That’s right out of the time when the West was a lawless desert. So the sales profession really didn’t have a great reputation as a result, the lively and sometimes entertaining sales pitches were as empty as the piggy banks these charlatans left behind. It improved a bit after the turn of the century, especially with the Industrial Revolution. Very common was the “traveling salesman” who went where he had to go to make someone buy something. While they were more reputable than their Old West predecessors, there were more than a few who encountered trouble in many different circumstances. You must have heard the one about the salesman and the farmer’s daughter, right? But these guys were the face of the company they were selling for, and it seemed like no matter how they did it, as long as the sales were coming in, heads would turn.

What techniques were used? Well of course being old school I would have used things like a fully stocked sample case, a really well maintained ledger, and lots of shoe leather. When the phone came, it was a little easier to call his clients and then go visit them, but it was still very close and personal.

And the marketing came primarily in the form of advertising. In the early days there were posters and other print media. As the mass media grew, so did the advertising space, with catchy jingles on old radio serials, to cute initial commercials and outright TV show endorsements. It was just another way for the company to help the sales professional get their job done. Of course, there was the tried and true personal connection that remains as valid as ever today: personal networks. Just like back then, being referred to someone they know is as valuable as a bar of gold in the safe.