What is a recession but a meal without a plate?

by Andre' Gensburger

We’re looking for a few good sales people. By itself, that may well be an ordinary statement with no reason to dwell on it. The thing is that there are so few people out there who want to do sales. For many, the word “sales” holds a connotation not unlike a vampire seeking out dinner. And, in truth, we all hate sales people because they force us to do things we would not normally want to do – spend our money on things we actually want!

In the newspaper business, we need sales people to generate advertising sales. This should be easy. We have a great product and we certainly reach a large number of people.

In Clayton and Concord, our papers are direct mailed to readers… Free! That is not called sales, surely. “Good morning mister business owner,” I might say. “I have a delivery vehicle that will get your product information into every home in Clayton and 34,000 in Concord. People will read all about what your business offers. That’s what you want, right? New customers?”

Good sales people do not come across as sales people; they are ordinary men and women who are a pleasure to talk with because they are not vampires. They are personable and merely chat about the product they represent. If the need does not exist, then there will be no sale – no matter how much one might wish otherwise.

Car dealers are experiencing this right now. It’s a recession. Stocks are down. The housing market is at a record low. People are not buying cars. Business is bad. Huh? Business should be great! When you buy something, you want the best price possible. Now is the time to buy a car. Go negotiate with a hungry dealer. You will never get a better deal on a car than you will now.

Houses are out there too, and the prices are great. Interest rates are fantastic. So what’s the problem?

A recession is like a meal without a plate; something is missing from that comfortable feeling we have during a stable economy.

And yet people are spending money. People are still eating, buying clothes and the malls are hardly empty. We still have our utilities and most of us have our jobs, despite an unfortunate circumstance for many others. In the end, someone will buy a car or a house and slowly the recession will slow as movement takes place once again. Only then people will be complaining: “I should have bought that house while the price was low.”

We’re looking for a few good sales people. We need someone nice. We need someone who is not afraid to greet a customer and hold a conversation. If that is you, call us at
672-0500.

We need someone who can tell businesses why their word needs to get out there. After all, every business owner needs new business so that they can survive.

Every business wants to reach the public so that consumers can once again start using plates with their meals.We can deal with that!

originally published in the Clayton Pioneer 1/23/09