Friday, August 28, 2009
*See the Preface to the “Saul’s Laws” page at the WordFeeder.
Humor. Integrity. Character. These were things my father (and mother) taught me by example. The subject of these posts are laws about which he was very specific. Some of them, like these first, seemed to be about business, but I suspected then even as a little kid, and am sure now, were meant to be about life in general.
Newton had his three laws of motion. Well, these were Saul’s first three laws of business:
1. Compromise. Everything is negotiable, although some things are more negotiable than others.
2. Focus. Never sell more than one thing at a time.
3. Truth. Never sell anything you don’t believe in, and it wasn’t just business he was talking about. (He also taught me how to draw a straight line along the edge of a board without using a ruler or square.)
My father, by the way, wasn’t a career salesman. He was, nonetheless, the most effective salesman I’ve ever met – second only to me. But then I don’t count, given that everything I know about sales, I learned from him. No, I’m not a professional salesman either. It’s just that we’re all selling, all the time, and I suspect that’s why these were the first laws he taught me.
-wf
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