Salesmen Are People Too

Urban Dictionary describes a "Provo All-Star" as, A male 18-30 years of age living in or around the city of Provo. Typically a return missionary who spends his post mission life as a D-bag... Will either avoid marriage until his parents threaten stop paying for school or will immediately marry some dumb 18 year old after he gets off his mission. He will usually find a job selling security systems making nothing of his life while wasting his parents money at BYU or UVU."

Salesmen are often looked at with this type of "one story" perspective. Many view these door to door sellers as "untrustworthy" or "shadey." The automatic reaction to those who choose sales as their field of employment is to put up a mental blockade to prevent anything bad from happening. The first thought is that they lie to get what they want. Little to no one believes in an honest salesperson. Having worked as a door-to-door salesperson I know that this is type of persona is the exception, not the rule. Working for a sales company has taught me a lot about myself and a lot about the caliber of other salesmen. All of the salesmen the I know and have worked with are hardworking, moral people who are trying to support themselves and their families. Many have an entrepreneurial mindset and thus are not content in another form of employment where they don't have control of their own income.

In the sales company I work for, the majority of salesmen have families to support. They are frequent church-goers and make an effort to give back to others and the community. In our company we make it a priority to have our customers familiar with our sales process. We want to be sure they understand the contract and are happy with the terms. We also hold a monthly service project because we know that it is important to give back to the communities in which we live. Door-to-door sales and salespeople and misunderstood and are victims of the "one story" perspective.