After A long weekend off the kids filed into class Tuesday
morning. They were very excited about their projects. The teacher had
given them a weekend assignment to sell something, then give a talk on
productive salesmanship.
Little Katie led off. “On Sunday I sold Girl Scout cookies out side of Target and I made $40,” she said very proudly. “My sales approach was to appeal to the customer’s civic spirit and I credit that approach for my obvious success.”
“Very good Katie,” said the teacher.
Little Tammy was up next. “I sold magazines to my neighbors,” she said. “I made $55 and I explained to everyone that magazines would help keep them up on current news.”
“Good, Tammy,” said the teacher.
Eventually, it was Little Tom’s turn. The teacher held her breath…
Little Tom walked to the front of the classroom and dumped a box full of cash on the teacher’s desk. “$3,465,” he said.
“$3,465!” cried the teacher. “Oh my goodness, what in the world were you selling Tom?”
“Toothbrushes,” He said.
“Toothbrushes?!” said the teacher. “Tom how could you possibly sell enough tooth brushes to make this much money?”
“I found the busiest entrance in the mall,” said Tom, “I set up a Dip & Chip stand, I gave everybody who walked by a free sample.”
“They all said the same thing, ‘Hey, this tastes like dog poop!”
Then I would say smiling, “It is dog poop. Do you wanna buy a Toothbrush?”
“I used the government’s method of giving you something bad, dressing it up so it looks good, telling you it’s free, and then making you pay to get the bad taste out of your mouth.”
Little Katie led off. “On Sunday I sold Girl Scout cookies out side of Target and I made $40,” she said very proudly. “My sales approach was to appeal to the customer’s civic spirit and I credit that approach for my obvious success.”
“Very good Katie,” said the teacher.
Little Tammy was up next. “I sold magazines to my neighbors,” she said. “I made $55 and I explained to everyone that magazines would help keep them up on current news.”
“Good, Tammy,” said the teacher.
Eventually, it was Little Tom’s turn. The teacher held her breath…
Little Tom walked to the front of the classroom and dumped a box full of cash on the teacher’s desk. “$3,465,” he said.
“$3,465!” cried the teacher. “Oh my goodness, what in the world were you selling Tom?”
“Toothbrushes,” He said.
“Toothbrushes?!” said the teacher. “Tom how could you possibly sell enough tooth brushes to make this much money?”
“I found the busiest entrance in the mall,” said Tom, “I set up a Dip & Chip stand, I gave everybody who walked by a free sample.”
“They all said the same thing, ‘Hey, this tastes like dog poop!”
Then I would say smiling, “It is dog poop. Do you wanna buy a Toothbrush?”
“I used the government’s method of giving you something bad, dressing it up so it looks good, telling you it’s free, and then making you pay to get the bad taste out of your mouth.”
