325 Regret At Leisure If You Tolerate Riffraff Salespeople

<p style="font-weight: 400;"> </p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">Riffraff inhabit all corners of the business world, but the sales profession suffers more than many others.  Bankers do all sorts of evil things with our money.  Stock brokers do all sorts of evil things with our money.  Real estate agents tell one version of the truth to buyers.  Government officials purloin our money.  Everywhere you look, someone is ripping us off.  However, these industries and institutions do not get blanket smeared with the failings of the few, like in the case of salespeople.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">We are our own worst enemy in many ways.  There is a taint to the profession, an odious odor, scandalising the hallways.  Desperate people do dumb things and tell lies to buyers.  There are no common standards of conduct being adhered to in the sales profession.  You just become a salesperson by dint of putting your hand up for a sales job.  After that point, you are free to unleash your reign of terror and destruction on all around you.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">“I am not like that” you may say, but how would the buyer know that?  They have been trained to expect to be ripped off by salespeople.  It is one of my pet hates with the profession.  Lo and behold anyone who calls me up and starts with a lie.  Starts with a lie? How could anyone be that stupid, you might be wondering? </p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">Well, have you heard this one before, “Hello Mr. Story, how are you today?  I am from XYZ company and we handle a range of investment products.  One of our representatives will be in your area and so are you available for a meeting next week?”.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">This industry of selling investment products is tricky.  I know, because I oversaw the sales of these products at the Shinsei Bank and the National Australia Bank here in Japan.  What makes them difficult is you can’t hear, see, touch, smell or taste these intangibles.  Investment products are abstract ideas. The buyer will have no ide