Sales
A Vignette
By Maryanne Peters

My grandfather was in sales. My father regarded it as a lowly occupation, and he often gave his father-in-law a hard time about it. He said that salespeople would say or do anything to close the deal. He said that it required no qualifications and attracted people with short attention spans. My father had qualifications – not great ones, but something to hang on his wall. My grandfather had sales awards, but he didn’t display them.

“Your best qualification is not what you did, but what you can do,” he said. He was good with a turn of phrase – even my father had to admit that.

“If you want to go into sales and avoid the hyperbole that your father is taking about, then you just need to find the right product,” my grandfather said. He was always happy to be giving advice to his adoring grandson

Well, I did just that.

It turns out that I might be one of those people with the short attention spans. I was pushed through high school, and I went to college, but it was just not for me. I dropped out and I decided to go into sales.

It helped that I had a pal in college who was the same as me. We were just a couple of aimless guys, wandering through the system and not looking forward to lives competing for the most tolerable drudgery.

My pal Kyle knew nothing about selling, but I told him a bunch of stories about my grandfather, and he got caught up in it just the way I did. My grandfather was good at his chosen vocation and he did well out of it – maybe even better than my father? We just needed to find the right product, and we did.

I am talking about a product that can change your life. It can take you out of a world where dogs eat dogs competing for scraps by fighting and suffering, into a world of color, excitement and beauty. Who would not choose that? There are plenty who don’t, but those who do are always satisfied. I have heard about a few with regrets, but it always seems like those are the customers with issues. All of the people who bought from us, were happy with their choice.

My grandfather always said that you should believe in the product that you sell, and if you give a personal recommendation then talk from personal experience. Kyle was a little uncertain at first, and I had the same feelings I guess, but we decided that we would give it a try. It just had to be the best decision we had ever made.

OMG, this product changed our lives.

And after that, selling was easy. We were both fizzing with stories about how our product had made everything better and brighter. The world was now so full of options for everybody.

Have you tried it? Kylie and I are presenting a special offer for Christmas. We are making a special cake!

The End
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© Maryanne Peters 2025

Merry Christmas everybody, and I will be back in the New Year!