A Concluding Thought

Can’t learn it in an office, gotta learn it in the street.And you sure can’t buy it, you gotta live it.

—Shelly, Glengarry Glen Ross, David Mamet

My first sales job was at the age of 16 in a gas station: fuel, oil, windshield wash, and automobile air fresheners—that stuff could sell itself.

In my time off I had another sales job going door-to-door hawking TV satellite dishes. At the time there were no broadcasts of the actual content as yet—just the hardware. It was a tricky sell, to say the least. I was not downhearted. The company collapsed within a month, which saved me from the dishonor of throwing in the towel.

So I got myself another sales job in a high-street men’s clothing store where I was taught my first piece of ...

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