Foreword

Very few people in the world of business understand what selling is all about. In fact, there's a historical prejudice against salespeople and the act of selling that goes back decades.

When I was a computer programmer in the 1980s, everyone in engineering thought the sales guys were glad-handers whose only talent consisted of an unending ability to schmooze. We were absolutely certain our technology was so manifestly wonderful that the only useful function the sales team could provide was to show the customers where to sign on the dotted line.

Ironically, what our sales guys were selling were million-dollar computer systems at the beginning of the PC revolution. Those guys were heroes, as evidenced by the fact that they actually were capable of making any sales at all. And yet, I'm embarrassed to say that we engineers treated them like they were bozos.