Joe Sails: A Story in Progress

Joe Sails: A Story in Progress, Dick Olenych, Lone Tree Publishing Inc, 2002

Joe Sails is a salesman at the Acme Office products Company. He has been with the company for a number of years, and in the past was the top salesman. Not any more. Joe has become increasingly dissatisfied, but without being able to put his finger on the reason. He is getting less diligent in his duties. If a customer calls with a problem, he either sends the call to another department or leaves the fixing of the problem until the end of the day. At the office, Joe is supposed to log all his client visits and sales phone calls along with the status of the customer, another area in which he has been less than conscientious. His numbers have also started to drop; he has missed his monthly sales quota more often than he has reached it.

Bobbi, Joe's immediate boss, has laso noticed. Without making Joe resentful, she wonders how to bring him back to his core competency, treating the customer as most important. They go over Joe's activity log, every day. She pairs Joe with Bill, another salesman. It's not intended to treat Joe as a child (but that's how he initially interprets it), but to show what putting the customer first is all about. Between sales calls, Bill's ear is glued to his cell phone, checking his voice mail or calling potential clients. Depending on the customer, it may take a couple of visits before the subject of what product (in this case, office products like copiers) the client should buy is even mentioned. Selling any old box is easy, selling the right kind of box that will expand with the business is hard. Joe slowly begins to get the idea. His diligence returns, and his productivity starts to go up. He's not back to where he was, but he's getting there.

For most people, this book can be skipped. Those who are in business (especially sales) could really use this book. Improvement in business, however it is measured, is a never-ending quest. Putting it in novel form can be more helpful than in the form of some book full of business buzzwords. It's worth reading.
<a href="others3.html"><H3>Top of Page</H3></a>
<a href="page1.html"><H3>Main Page</H3></a></p>