The Sales History Podcast

Send us Fan Mail I went digging...into the origins of email as a communication medium. Along the way, I found a ton of really interesting timeline milestones that are amazing, interesting, and in some cases pretty funny. So, in this episode, we explore those milestones - from invention to the CAN-SPAM act, and how we really haven't fixed a whole lot along the way. Here's the article I re...

Send us Fan Mail Sales compensation plans - where did they come from? How did they evolve to where they are today? Are there lessons we can learn from their origins we can apply today to make our plans more of what they are meant to be? In today's episode, I take you back as far as 1914 to learn about the types of quotas, the mistakes they acknowledged in 1918, and the lessons from the 1920s...

Send us Fan Mail Can you imagine - a profession so deplorable that those in it were rounded up and murdered? As crazy as it sounds, I found that it actually happened during the Roman Empire B.C. In an incredible find, I uncovered a sales history well over 2,000 years old where money was prioritized over virtue - in a way we still see today. In today's episode, I tell the story, with quotes fr...

Send us Fan Mail If sales has changed so much , why haven't the #salestips? Reading a collection of the top sales tips in 1913 - and I swear I was reading a collection of the top sales tips today. There's no conflict...at all. What's presented as revelation today on all of the socials are fundamentally the same through the eras of selling, so in today's episode, I share them. W...

Send us Fan Mail There's a direct correlation between the difficulty of the selling environment and the need for optimized sales management. There was a lag between the modernization of sales and the modernization of sales management. In this episode, we track that evolution...from the 1900s through after the lesser-known depression of the early 1920s.  The amazing thing - the lessons they le...

Send us Fan Mail “It is far better that the quota be right than that it be simple.” – 1926 Something odd struck me as I was investigating the origins of quotas and variable compensation. 75-100 years ago, organizations did MUCH MORE with MUCH LESS data. Today, not sure anyone could claim that quota setting is in a good state - and I think I know why. In this episode, we explore how quotas were set...

Send us Fan Mail Every "greatest sales book of all time" listing has its share of "snubs", or books that should be on it that aren't. Even worse...I have yet to find a list that hasn't snubbed an entire era! In this episode, I highlight six of many books from 1900-1930 that should be on the lists, but aren't. @saleshistorian on Instagram - daily quotes, pics &amp...

Send us Fan Mail In another case of a misguided Google result, it's time to set another record straight. What was the first "modern" sales methodology? What was it? Who developed it? And why did it serve as a baseline for so many companies throughout the early portion of the 1900s? @saleshistorian on Instagram - daily quotes, pics & comics from the past @saleshistorian on Twitte...

Send us Fan Mail It's sales kickoff season. Kickoffs, or what was called sales 'conventions", have been around for at least 130 years. Today, we dig into the first known kickoff that I could find, from 1887. We'll dig into what they did, lessons learned from those 100+ year-old kickoffs, and a modern view of how you can apply those to yours today. @saleshistorian on Instagram -...

Send us Fan Mail While reading and studying books and magazines on sales leadership from the late 1800s through the 1940s: The problems of sales & leadership are almost all the same today...except for one thing. There are no articles, or even expressions of consternation, about forecasting in sales back then. I think I put my finger on why - and while it might not solve all of our forecasting...

Send us Fan Mail A once admired profession, taught in colleges and high schools in the early 1900s, was detested by the 1960s. Why? And can we get our mojo back? In this episode, we explore a 1965 study on what makes a profession prestigious matched up against the profession of sales - and why at least one scholar believes we may never get back to once was both trusted and respected! The new book,...

Send us Fan Mail Sales objections - they've been around since the beginning of time. But the amazing thing is, they read almost EXACTLY as they do today. What's even more amazing? The experts answers to the most common ones that come up. In today's episode, we choose six - and the experts from 1907 to 1920s answers may actually be useful to you today!  I also dig into a new way to t...

Send us Fan Mail "If the truth won't sell it, don't sell it." - the words of Arthur Dunn from 1919. In the early 20th century, the sales profession embraced a culture of honesty & transparency. In today's episode: We start with an amazing passage from Baltasar Gracian from his 1647 book, The Art of Worldly Wisdom .  We explore the brilliant quotes and minds of that per...

Send us Fan Mail With Ask Me Anything's (AMAs) being all the rage today, there was a similar outlet for salespeople...in 1906! Via Salesmanship Magazine, every month, salespeople from around the country were encouraged to send in their questions. Experts fielded those questions and provided their answers. In today's episode, we explore four "queries" from that year. 1) A questi...

Send us Fan Mail Wondering what sales influencers would be the best follows for you on LinkedIn? Well, in today's episode, I give you that list - but from 100 years ago! The dawn of modern sales took place in the early 1900s - the individuals each left an indelible mark on all of YOUR sales careers - even today. So let's explore - the Top Five Sales Follows from 100 years ago... #5 - Nov...

Send us Fan Mail An amendment to Season 1, Episode 10's episode on "When Did Cold Calling Begin?", this episode tells of two newly found stories - of the first found (so far) B2C telephone cold calling campaign in 1910, and the first found B2B telephone cold calling campaign from 1914.  The success rate, the scripting, the analysis of numbers and the foundational technique is so ama...

Send us Fan Mail If the saying "if we don't know history, are we doomed to repeat it" is true, then why can't we use history to also predict the future? In this episode, I attempt to do just that. "Buyers know more nowadays" isn't just a quote from LinkedIn today, but also from a sales book in 1912! More information hasn't meant the demise of the profession...

Send us Fan Mail Isn't it ironic? Today, we fret over the challenge of building and leading teams that are all remote. However, the original sales leaders in the "modern" era of sales (i.e., 1907-1920s) - were REMOTE sales leaders. And, they built, trained and motivated teams without Slack, without email, or without even the ability to talk to them on the phone! In this episode, we...

Send us Fan Mail 100 years ago - 1922 - the sales world encountered a year with 85% salesperson turnover. You read that right! A year when "sales executives discharged practically ALL of their salesmen"! The crazy part - just 18 months earlier, the sales world "took almost anybody into their sales forces".  What happened? Could it happen again today? The lead-up is eerily famil...

Send us Fan Mail The best podcasts give you access to top performers; salespeople, leaders & influencers, right? But, how about a top performer...from 100+ years ago?!? This week I've got a special episode for you -  where I (fake) interview Norval Hawkins (1867-1936), known as the greatest salesperson to ever work for Ford, whom Henry Ford himself referred to as "my million dollar m...

Send us Fan Mail The question: Where did the qualification construct BANT come from? In looking for the answer, I realized something... Sales processes of the early 20th century? All buyer-focused steps - what is the buyer doing?  Sales processes since the 1950's, when BANT came around? All seller-focused, all the way down to our CRM stages. To be truly buyer-focused, shouldn't our proce...

Send us Fan Mail Sales compensation - commission-only until the 1900's. And, for good reason. You wouldn't pay a rep you rarely see a salary, right? Sales are face-to-face. Travel is slow, there's no real-time distance communication, and no CRM system, so it's what you did. Sell something, get paid - a lot. Don't sell something, don't get paid.  The birth of salary+co...

Send us Fan Mail Cold calling - some love it, some hate it, but when did it start? Specifically, when did salespeople start cold canvassing (in-person), and when did they start doing it using the telephone? The answers are pretty clear, and what you find in a Google search are NOT the correct answers...clearly. Let's debunk the false, and get to the truth about where our cold outreach began....

Send us Fan Mail Are you responsible for "drumming up business" in your role? Do you "carry a bag" as a salesperson? Do you know where those terms come from? They come from the traveling salespeople of the 1800s. In today's episode, I tell their story - of the hard-drinking, back-slapping "Drummer" - and of the horseback riding "Bagmen" - what it was li...

Send us Fan Mail Many view the past-10-plus-the-next-10-years as a period where technology is and will completely change the sales profession. But if we use history as a guide, where technology was changing an awful lot more than it is today, salespeople will ruin it again.  The rise of the telephone, email, even LinkedIn...may have done more harm than good for a profession reliant on its reputati...