The Successful Salesperson
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Have you heard of Bill Porter? I hadn’t, until I watched the made-for-TV movie, Door to Door.
Despite having cerebral palsy, which affected both his mobility and his communication skills, Bill refused to go on disability and convinced the Watkins Company to hire him as a door-to-door salesman in 1955. They tried to let him go after a few days on the job because his sales weren’t high enough, but he persuaded them to give him a month to prove himself. He far exceeded their expectations, going on to become one of their top salespeople. In fact, he continued to serve his customers through his online store until he died at the age of 81 .
Bill achieved this level of success due to his determination and perseverance to overcome the seemingly insurmountable barriers with which life presented him. But there’s more to it than that – what about those of us who don’t face such obstacles?
The other reason for Bill’s success was his sincere commitment to helping people. He always went out of his way to find a solution to others’ problems, whether or not that solution involved purchasing one of his products. And that is something any of us can do. Here are just a few ways we can go that extra mile:
- Accept others for who they are and don’t be judgemental
- Share information that might benefit or interest our clients and other contacts
- Remember and acknowledge birthdays, anniversaries and other special occasions
For inspiration, I highly recommend that you watch Door to Door, which has won many awards, including the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie for William H. Macy’s superb performance as Bill Porter. You can order a DVD or VHS tape (does anyone still have a VCR?) from Amazon.com and may be available on some streaming services.
Photo by Rangizzz / Depositphotos
Janet Barclay
I eliminate stress for my clients by hosting, monitoring, and maintaining their WordPress sites so they don’t have to worry about security, downtime or performance issues. When I’m away from my desk, I enjoy reading, photography, cooking, watching movies, drinking tea, and spending time with my family.
I’m always looking for a movie that will lift us up, and this sounds like a great candidate. I did a Google search and it looks like I can watch the move in its entirely on Youtube! Thanks for sharing. I had never heard of it.
I didn’t realize it was on Youtube – that’s great! I think you will enjoy it.
This sounds like a wonderful movie, and I’d love to watch it. Thanks to Seana for sourcing it on YouTube. I looked before I saw her message and couldn’t find it on Amazon or Netflix. I can’t wait to check it out.
This brought up a memory from my childhood. When I was little, once a year, a salesman would pull up to our driveway and honk the horn. Most years, my mom would go out to purchase seasonal greeting cards from him. He had cerebral palsy. His speech and mobility were compromised, and he never got out of the car. You could understand him, but it was difficult. A few times, I went out with her just to see what she was doing. I was the observer.
One year, however, when he came to the driveway and honked, my mom was in the middle of teaching. She taught piano from our home. So she asked me to go outside to get the box of cards she purchased. With strained speech, he asked me to take the box from the car trunk, which I did. I thanked him and brought the box inside. I was pretty young, maybe 8 or 9 years old. I’m sure it was challenging for him, yet he persevered.
Thank you for sharing that story! Perhaps this was a popular career path for people who were unable to secure other types of employment due to discrimination or other challenges related to their disabilities.
I am definitely going to check it out. We love William Macy. He’s famous for his role in Shameless.
I haven’t seen Shameless – will have to look for it!
What a story, very inspiring. Will definitely watch the movie.
Thanks for sharing.
I should’ve held a movie night – it sounds like there would have been a great turnout! 😀
The movie sounds inspiring and I love the reminder to go that extra mile. Sometimes it’s the little gestures that matter.
That’s so true – whether a business relationship or a personal one.