Death of a True Salesman
I’ve always had a soft spot for salespeople since my mother was in sales for most of her life. Today the term has some tawdry connotations, but a true salesman is never dishonest. If a product is no good, the true salesman can’t pitch it because he or she knows that most people expect a sales person to lie – and if a sales person gives any hint of a lie the sale is over.
Over the years I have dealt with good and bad salesman as a consumer and as a small businessman. Any small business man knows that a good sales person can make or break his business, so we are always on the lookout for good sales people whether it’s cosmetics or cars. Once I talked to a car salesman at a dealership about a car I was interested in; I didn’t buy the car but I knew the guy was talented. I contacted my boss who was interested but by the time I got back to the dealership the kid had already taken a better sales job. He would have been perfect for selling IBM mid-range machines like the AS-400 my company sold; maybe if they had snapped him up my company wouldn’t have gone out of business a year or two later.
Similarly I have dealt with absolutely awful salespeople. The only person I have ever had the honor of throwing out of my house was an Appleby windows salesman. Over the course of any hour he proved he knew little about the windows, wouldn’t address my questions about price and even went so far as insult my wife. He was so stupid and rude my wife and I were laughing at him as he drove away. We have a good story that brings a smile to our faces at the very mention of that night, but I’ll never buy Appleby windows.
I’ve seen Billy Mays on TV ads over the years and even bought oxyclean - a product that made him famous. I learned to like him even more while watching the Discovery channel show “Pitchmen” with Anthony Sullivan – another excellent salesman. Billy was the real deal. He was the true salesman who never lied about his product and expected it to perform exactly like the person buying it did. Billy was a salesman with integrity – something that all good sales people have – and I imagine that he and my mother could have spent hours swapping stories about their experiences.
But Billy died this morning at the age of 50 so that conversation can never happen. The news is dominated by the death of Michael Jackson and while Michael was a superstar, I would much rather have chatted over a plate of canollis with Billy than met Michael. Billy was one of the good guys, and I will miss watching him.
RIP Billy.
UPDATE:
It says a lot about a man when even his ex-wife praises him
“I knew him since he was 15, and I always knew he had it in him,” she said of Mays’ success. “He’ll live on forever because he always had the biggest heart in the world. He loved his friends and family and would do anything for them. He was a generous soul and a great father.”
Leave a comment