TheTraveling Brush Salesman ...

After an exhausting month of seeking employment at every factory and business in town, two friends decided they would try their luck applying for a job at the Acme Brush Co., but the only positions available were door to door salesmen. One of the men was very confident and sure of himself and felt he was well suited for the job and would make a handsome commission, while the other wasn't very good with people at all and was sure he would fail before he ever started his new job. The two men collected their sample cases and set out in different directions to cover as much of the town as possible.

After the first week, the confident salesman had sold over 100 top of the line hairbrushes and was very pleased with himself for his efforts. His less confident friend had sold only 5 hairbrushes and stood in awe at his friends success. After only two weeks, the confident salesman had sold over 500 combs while his friend had struggled to make only 2 sales the entire week. The struggling salesman felt he was missing out on something important that he needed to understand to make sales in this business and begged the successful salesman to share his secret.

"It's really quite simple..." he explained. "Instead of going door to door and making a single sale, I try to set up outside a business that is related to my wares and let the people coming to the store see what I have to offer and make my sale on the spot ! The first week was rather windy, so I set up just outside the mall with a large mirror so the women entering the mall could see their hair was a mess, and they would buy a brush from me... The second week I decided to set up down at the driver's license office... and you know how people are about getting their picture taken... I was able to sell 500 combs that week !!! You just really have to come up with a gimmick that works for you and stick with it..."

After taking his friends advice and thinking long and hard on the situation, the less than confident salesman came up with an idea that he felt would enable him to make all the sales he could possibly handle, so he put his plan to work the very next day. After only 1 week he had managed to sell over 1000 toothbrushes !!! The second week was even better than the first with his sales topping 5000 toothbrushes in a single week !!! In the brush company business, this was simply unheard of... All the other salesmen were wondering how he was able to sell so many brushes in such a short period of time and were begging him for advice ! He told everyone,"Come on down to the supermarket tomorrow and I'll show you how its done..."

Several of the salesmen from the company wanted to witness firsthand how anyone could sell so many brushes in such a short period of time, so they arrived at the supermarket just as it was opening, only to find that the now over-confident salesman was already set up and waiting to greet customers. As they approached the table he had set up just outside the store entrance as his friend had suggested, they could see several different types of potato chips and a large bowl of dip setting in the center.

One of the visiting salesmen looked very puzzled and asked," Is this how you sold so many brushes !?!" The over confident salesman just smiled as he offered him a bag of potato chips and asked," You wanna' try my dip ?" The visiting salesman was a little reluctant , but decided he would try the dip...

After just one bite, the visiting salesman got the strangest look on his face and began to spit and gag all at the same time... Once he could catch his breath he yelled, " That DIP Tastes Like SHIT !!!" The over-confident salesman just smiled as he offered the visiting salesman a toothbrush saying... " It is Shit... Wanna' buy a toothbrush?"