| When I decided to become a salesman which was | | | | of my future success. |
| in 1960 I had the good fortune to join a | | | | I had reached the top of the promotion ladder in |
| newspaper group that was just about to develop | | | | the newspaper group and I was only 42 and the |
| an operation to sell Classified Advertising. It may | | | | prospect of marking time in that position until i |
| surprise you to learn that Classified | | | | was 60 did not appeal to me so I took the risk of |
| Advertisements had not been actively sold | | | | becoming a self employed Insurance salesman. |
| previously by any newspapers in the UK. | | | | The first day in my new career I discovered that |
| I was 30 years of age at the time and as a | | | | field work - cold calling ion businesses to sell |
| rookie salesman I joined a new team of recruits | | | | insurance was not going to be a rewarding |
| formed to sell Classified adverts to the local | | | | proposition because of the difficulty of getting in |
| business community. At the same time a new | | | | to see the proprietors. |
| telesales department was set up with 12 new | | | | On my second day I picked up the telephone and |
| female telesales operators. This operation was | | | | made 5 calls to a selected group of local |
| duplicated throughout every newspaper office | | | | companies. |
| within The Thompson newspaper group. Because | | | | At each call I made a short introduction and |
| this was a new operation, no local experience | | | | asked for an appointment with the Managing |
| existed in our city or indeed within the whole of | | | | Director. |
| the UK. Trainers were brought in from America | | | | From those 5 calls I made 3 appointments. This |
| and were set up in offices in Fleet St London | | | | conversion ratio convinced me that I would |
| where those recruited as Sales Managers for | | | | succeed in this business so I immediately recruited |
| each Newspaper were put through a crash | | | | and trained a part time telesales girl who then |
| training course in selling classified ads on the | | | | proceeded to make all the future appointments I |
| streets and via the telephone. These new | | | | could cope with. The hardest job in selling |
| managers then returned to their local newspapers | | | | insurance is finding suitable prospects to talk to. I |
| to train the new personnel, the male recruits | | | | had created a mechanism that provided me with |
| were to sell in the field and the females were to | | | | an endless supply of the right type of people to |
| sell over the telephone. | | | | whom I could sell my service. The result of this |
| I first joined the field sales team and within a | | | | was that by the end of my first year in my new |
| year had become the best salesman on the team | | | | business I earned 20 times ( Twenty) more than |
| and was then given the opportunity to move into | | | | I had earned the previous year as an executive in |
| the telesales department, first as a telesales | | | | one of the largest companies in the country. |
| operator and when I had proved I could make | | | | I then went on to replicate a telesales operation in |
| the sales I was then made the trainer for the | | | | 10 branches across the UK to provide |
| department. After a while I was appointed Field | | | | appointments for salespeople I had recruited and |
| sales manager and later was given the position of | | | | trained to sell the same service. |
| Classified Sales Manager for a group of local | | | | Telesales was a new phenomenon at that time |
| newspapers where I had to create the whole | | | | but has since proved to be a catalyst in the |
| operation from scratch. This was invaluable | | | | growth in sales of thousands of businesses |
| experience for me which later on in a new sales | | | | throughout the country. |
| career Telephone Selling became the cornerstone | | | | |