Born Salesman

BORN TO SELL

NOTICE: Any Resemblance to or Inference of any Living Born Salesman is Surely Incidental

 It is amazing the experiences -- long assumed forgotten -- that a human mind will call-up because of something unexpectedly heard or seen.  For example, an event repeated today on the TV machine brought to mind a phenomenon of life which otherwise would have remained buried in memory:  The people met who were, quite simply, Born to Sell.

These men (I’ve only experienced it in men) should not be confused with professional salesmen.  I’ve sold stuff in my life that I believed people wanted or needed, and that paying the price would be beneficial to the customer.

Over these 70 or so years, however, a number of Born Salesmen have passed my way.  Some time in the 1980’s there was this young man who had suits to sell.  He was just so good at it, so compelling, that he well might have made a sale.  It did not deter him a bit when told no suit was needed, the one reluctantly “tried on” did not fit, and his potential customer was too poor to buy a suit.

A Born Salesman simply sells whatever he has at hand to sell.  It’s not really about greed, either.  Once watched a wealthy man who made a life of selling try to sell the toupee off his own head in hopes of making the sale.

As our son Nathan said, “It’s the Game”.  The Game is played with the sole purpose of proving to the player they can “beat” the other guy:  Sell him on this idea or product, get him to fall for this Con or Sting.  Money is simply one way of keeping score; adoration of the seller might be another.  (Really am not old enough to remember, but study indicates Hitler was Born to Sell.)

The Born Salesman “reads the mark”, decides what can be sold, finds a “hook”, and proceeds to wage psychological warfare.  If he is successful, the mark commits to the con, pays the price, and never knows he’s being conned.

Solely in this observation, the Born Salesman needs no ethical or moral center, no consideration of harm or good, the only required motivation being to make the sale.



With a sense of duty to warn those readers who may lack 70 years of observation and painful experiences, I submit herewith my list of “tells” of Born Salesman, otherwise known as Hustlers:

[FYI:  In gamblers parlance a “tell” is a quirk in behavior which reveals the true motives below the surface. A Tell allows astute watcher or reader to also know when a chronic liar is lying.] 



So, in the spirit of giving warning, do you know anyone who:

Repeats suspicious, unproven, or known false “information”

Uses numbers proving “figures don’t lie, but liars figure”

Cites “many people” and “everybody” for sources

Consistently prefaces or ends with “Believe me”

Projects their own known faults on others

Speaks of himself in third person plural

Insist listener must agree with the liar



Beware of those so betraying themselves as Born to Sell



Respectfully submitted,

a Born Mark