A discussion about sales, sales tips and advice, and about those who land the deal

I began my career in sales as a thrill seeker.  Trouble was, I didn't know it.  Actually, it was probably a good thing that I didn't know I was signing up to be a thrill seeker, because I probably wouldn't have been successful to the degree that I have been.

I started my sales career with Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PB) following a mildly successful career in television sports broadcasting (at the time, I would have defined it as wildly successful, but age and reason have since helped me to come back down to earth).

I was an intentional thrill seeker by choice in choosing to change careers.  I was an accidental thrill seeker in the sense that I didn't know at the time that any new sales representative would always get the worst (and I mean worst) territory to go work.  How bad was my area?  I regularly walked by boarded up buildings and people waiting for a bed at the rescue mission. 

But I didn't know any better, so I just went out and did my job.  I knocked on doors, met some wild and amazing people, and sold Pitney Bowes everywhere I went.  Come to find out that the territory was so bad and neglected by PB's prior new sales reps, that nobody had updated any of their equipment for years.  They were ready to buy, and I was ready to partake of the thrill in selling it to them.  I was also lucky to have one of the most amazing sales managers on the face of the earth, Jim Holvay.  He made the job fun, and I couldn't have done it without him.

Here's my point (my "opinion", actually): Opt for the thrill seeking.  You only live once, make it count.

Here's my all-time favorite sales/business/life quote that I have placed over my phone at my office...it's from the inventor of the artificial heart, Robert Jarvik:

"Leaders are visionaries with a poorly developed sense of fear, and no concept of the odds against them."

That's the quote of a thrill seeker, my friend.  Whether its in sales or business or in life, be the thrill seeker.