A Glimpse Into Salesman's Life 

A Salesman is a pin on a map to the sales manager, a quota to the factory, an overloaded expense account to the auditor, a bookkeeping item called "cost-of-selling" to the treasurer, a smile and wisecrack to the receptionist, and a purveyor of flattery to the buyer.

A salesman needs the endurance of Hercules, the brass of Barnum, the craft of Machiavelli, the tact of a diplomat, the tongue of an orator, the charm of a playboy and the brain of a computer.

He must be impervious to insult, indifference, anger, scorn, complaint and be razor-sharp, even after drinking until dawn with a customer.

He must have the stamina to sell all day, entertain all evening, drive all night to the next town and be on the job fresh at 9:00 am.

He must be good at story-telling and willing to lose at golf and cards.  He wishes his merchandise was better, his prices lower, his commissions higher, his territory smaller, his competitors more ethical, his goods more promptly delivered, his boss more sympathetic, his advertising more effective and his customers more human.

He rolls his days away in tedium of planes, trains and cars.  He sleeps his nights away in cheerless hotel rooms.  Each morning he hoists onto his back the dead weight of last years sales record and this year's quota and goes forth to do it all over again.

Yet, for all that, he is absolutely certain that tomorrow will be better and there is nothing he would rather do, anybody he would rather be - than a salesman.