Selling Your Soul
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This article was kindly written for the SDC by member @Doctor Alan.
While the phrase: ‘Selling your Soul’ dates back to the 16th century or even earlier, it was popularised by Christopher Marlowe in his play: ‘Doctor Faustus’ written in about 1592, and refers to a man selling his soul to the devil in order to gain knowledge and power. There are many present-day examples of this, and the term is often used to describe people compromising their principles for some personal advantage. For example, 'politicians who would sell their soul for the sake of office', and we certainly have some stark contemporary examples of this. (Although the people in question probably didn’t have much in the way of principles in the first place!) If I believed in the Devil, he (or she) would be rubbing his hands with glee right now.
But I digress. My first encounter with the need to ‘sell my soul’ was when I started my first job as a salesman. I had been in Australia for nearly two years and had just gotten the sack from Control Data Corporation because I told an instructor in front of the class that he was incorrect in his knowledge of Boolean Algebra. Unfortunately, I should have said something like: ‘Why am I incorrect in thinking that...’ This wouldn’t have made him look so stupid, probably – after all, a lot of blokes survive on ego alone, but that’s another story. Anyway, I answered an advert that said: 'Be a Salesman for Pitney Bowes', then explained what the company produced. Although I’d only sold ice creams at that point, and apart from making yo-yo strings at school during the yo-yo craze (for 3d instead of the 4d people paid at the shops – they only cost my 3/4d to make.), I was accepted for the position after I’d ‘role-played’ the part of a salesman trying to sell an expensive ballpoint to a customer who only wanted a cheap Bic pen.
Do you have what it takes to be a salesman? Image Credit: Shutterstock
The product was copying machines, and Xerox held the patent for the ‘dry toner’ type. Lesser companies were really up against it, having to rely on a liquid toner that, if it dripped out onto the office carpet, would produce a permanent stain.
I’m afraid I was rather hopeless. We were told we weren’t ‘salesmen’ but ‘problem solvers’ and worked on averages. For instance, maybe ten phone calls resulted in one demonstration, and ten demonstrations produced one sale. I liked the idea of freedom, but I just couldn’t seem to sell enough of the product. We were told to ‘accentuate’ the features of the product, and these had to be shown as ‘benefits’ to the prospective buyer. Honesty would dictate that I would also show the possible problems in using liquid toner, but – and here’s where the ‘soul-selling’ comes in – I would not reveal these possible shortcomings. In those days, there was much less ‘shopping online’ than we have now, and ‘product reviews’ by customers were almost unheard of. Of course, the job didn’t last, and I got what I became quite used to in a number of subsequent jobs: 'Come in, close the door' and 'It’s not really working, is it?' They didn’t want salesmen who fell short on sales!
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