10 Bizarre and Daring Feats of Salesmanship
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AP
Fortune's "The Art of Selling" special report examines how legends mastered the sales pitch - and raked in the revenues. Click forward to see their unique perspectives changed the business world.
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Next: William Wrigley Jr. -
Courtesy CNN Money
William Wrigley Jr.
In 1915 the soap salesman turned chewing-gum mogul sent free gum to 1.5 million homes listed in the telephone book. His thinking: If they could afford a phone, they could buy Doublemint.
Next: Brownie Wise -
Courtesy CNN Money
Brownie Wise
Formerly a rep for Stanley Home Products, Wise convinced stubborn inventor Earl Tupper that salespeople needed to demonstrate his plastic containers' patented "burp," ushering in an era of suburban Tupperware parties.
Next: Gerard Lambert -
Courtesy CNN Money
Gerard Lambert
The "Father of Halitosis" called bad breath a medical condition in Lambert Pharmacal Co.'s 1920s ads. In the process he made Listerine a bestseller.
Next: John H. Patterson -
Courtesy CNN Money
John H. Patterson
National Cash Register's founder had strange and stringent rules for his hires. He built fields on NCR's campus and required salespeople to do exercises. He dictated how much they could pay for neckties.He once fired an employee who nearly slipped from a horse during a character-building equestrian event he organized.
Next: Herman T. Smith -
Courtesy CNN Money
Herman T. Smith
The first black salesman hired by PepsiCo, the 28-year-old Smith was charged in 1940 with cornering the black consumer market, getting a jump on rival Coke. He and his team couldn't stay in white-only hotels, so they made train reservations on Pullman sleeping cars.
Next: Mary Kay Ash -
Courtesy CNN Money
Mary Kay Ash
The beauty queen motivated her commissioned sales force with a woman's touch, offering diamonds, trips, and pink Cadillacs to top performers. A year after Mary Kay's launch in 1963, sales were $198,000; in 2007 they were $2.4 billion.
Next: Joe Girard -
Courtesy CNN Money
Joe Girard
Guinness World Records' top salesman sold 13,001 individual cars (six cars a day) in 15 years at a Chevy dealership near Detroit. Every month he mailed cards to his customers that read simply, "I Like You."
Next: Tom Siebel -
Troy Maben, AP
Tom Siebel
Oracle sales veteran Siebel started his own software firm in 1993. Though the Valley had gone dot-com casual, his strict code required salespeople to wear suits; he also named every conference room at headquarters after a customer.
Next: Alfred Fuller -
Bettmann / Corbis
Alfred Fuller
Fuller Brush legitimized door-to-door selling, with its salesmen visiting nearly nine out of ten American homes in the first half of the last century. In Disney's Three Little Pigs (1933), the wolf dresses up as a Fuller Brush man to get inside the house.
Next: Big Pharma -
Big Pharma
In the '90s Big Pharma discovered that attractive, peppy cheerleaders made perfect pitchwomen. An outfit called Spirited Sales Leaders has placed more than 60 cheerleaders and dancers in pharma sales forces in the past four years.
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Recent Comments
whytesflooring 10:47:53 AM Dec 26 2008
What an amazing woman and company. It always amazes me how much negative can be expelled about someone who has found success in helping others. How small minded we can be. If people knew the truth, hence the three sides to EVERY story. I have seen the company and consultants help many.My friends mom is a Director unable to work for almost 10 years. The company fully supports her. She still holds her title and receives a paycheck and disability check from the company monthly. Name another company who does that.It is a shame that people invest more energy trying to hurt the reputation of a great woman then changing their own unhappiness. I am grateful for such a great Christian leader. Amen. She was a wonderful woman.. Beautiful, forthright, brilliant. Thank you to the Mary Kay family for continuing such excellence. I LOVE MARY KAY!
manhattanmujerny 05:46:39 AM Dec 26 2008
her produscts are very high price i buy at local retails or dollar stores cant afford on my check to check living
simpsonregg 06:14:39 PM Dec 25 2008
I love Mary Kay products and love the fact that she shared this opportunity to make money with thousands of women. SHe could have kept everything to herself but she didn't. If top producers have helath challenges maybe someone needs to implement some type of plan or suggestions to the CEOs that would benefit these womenespecially when they are not physically able to work. They are the ones raking in the money for the company.
chrystalwithmk 04:51:31 PM Dec 25 2008
I love Mary Kay products, I love the company and the eithics it was built on, and I love my career with Mary Kay. I am proud and happy to see her included in this article, although this is one of many. She was a visionary, and those I have met who knew her work to pass on her vision and dreams. Our mission is to enrich the lives of women. Mary Kay offers a fabulous business opportunity, and fabulous products. Visit my website at www.marykay.com/chrystal for more details! Merry Chirstmas Everyone!
shoppincheryl 04:18:52 PM Dec 25 2008
She felt good about herself, so knock her all you want. She made a hell of alot of money and you are all just plain jealous. good going Mary Kay. Heaven loves having you there! with them. You made alot of people happy and gave alot of people work I remember working for Mary Kay, when I was fresh out of high school in 1963. That is when she first started. Working for her, helped put me through college.
keyscyclecorp 04:08:00 PM Dec 25 2008
Guess she's on the phone with? Her plastic sergeon! P.S. She's Dead!!!!
keyscyclecorp 04:00:22 PM Dec 25 2008
If she had any more makeup on she'd look like Tammy Faye Baker
stlboxmaker 03:50:07 PM Dec 25 2008
The Mary Kay products are marked up no higher than anyone elses brand. As a business man I will say it. "Great Going Mary Kay" When you do what this woman has done then make un attractive comments about her. If you read her biography you will see she made more millionares out of her sales people than in other company in history. So talk about her derogatory all you want, if alive she would be laughing at you all the way to the bank.
grvstwn 12:56:19 PM Dec 25 2008
BS BS Supportive of women? BS How about my girl friend a few years age?? She was a top producer and had to give up her customer list to fight breast cancer. That doesn't sound too supportive!! Make your quota each month. No exceptions.
