The Reputation of a Salesman

Welcome to Episode 87 of Axe to the Root Podcast, part of the War Room Productions, I am Bo Marinov, and for the next 30 minutes I want to pick up a topic again that we discussed about two years ago: namely, sales. If you remember, in our episode, “Sales from a Biblical Perspective,” I presented the thesis that sales are not only a legitimate part of the economy, they are actually one of the most important parts of the economy. Why is that? let’s look at a short answer before we continue with the important topic: the underlying issue is this: Is the economy driven by the objective needs of the consumers, or is it driven by the entrepreneurship, innovation, and productivity of the producers? If it is driven by the objective needs of the consumers, then there would be no need for salesmen: everyone knows what they need, they just go out and try to find it. The problem with this, however, is that it can’t explain why the economy grows. Why are people buying so many things they have no direct need for? People have survived without electricity for centuries; how come, all of a sudden, everyone “needs” it? How come everyone today “needs” a cell phone? After all, some of us older people didn’t even know we “needed” one for decades. If needs are objective, how is it that most of what we think we “need” today hasn’t been around for centuries, and everyone survived?

The answer is, of course that our “needs” are not real objective needs. They are subjective desires the moment we learn what is possible out there. And then, in our hearts, we transform them into “needs.” When we learn that it is possible to have ceiling fans, we now “need” them. When we learn that it’s possible to have air-conditioning, we now “need” that one, too. When we learned that it was possible to have mobile phones, we started “needing” them, too. When it became possible for mobile phones to connect to the internet in every place, we started “needing” that internet connection, too. (I personally resisted that “need” for some time, but I also succumbed to it, eventually.) If you are around my age (48) or older, you have surely been asked by your children or grandchildren, “How did you all live without Internet, or without cell phones, or without computers, or without [you fill the blank]?” From our perspective, of course, life was normal, and we had no need for all these things. I mean, it is nice to have them around because they make our life easier, but they are certainly not indispensable. A “need,” therefore, is not objective reality; it is psychological conditioning. And that psychological conditioning doesn’t need any skillful psychological techniques. All it needs is break the news to the consumers about new stuff on the market. Next thing you know, the market develops a “need” for it.

That’s where salesmen come in. They are the middle men who break that news. They are the ones who inform the buying public about the new possibilities offered by the producers. Von Mises pointed out that on the market, information is the most valuable commodity. The right information gives you the opportunity to make the right the decisions and thus become more efficient. Salesmen are the agent for spreading that information. In a sense, they are democratizing it, making it cheap and available to everyone. Or, if you want to use a Biblical word, think of salesmen as the “evangelists” of the business world. They bring some sort of “good news” to their customers: “There’s a way to make your life easier at a lower price.” I know, I know, we all hate salesmen, especially those that appear at our door, but hate them or not, the truth is, all of the improvements in our homes and lives that make them better and more comfortable than homes and lives 200 years ago have come to us because some salesman many years ago decided to overcome his fear of knocking on people’s doors, and brought the good news of this or that improvement, for the scanty probability of making a few bucks on a sale. So, hate them as much as you want, but respect their work. It’s hard work.

Anyway, after having established the legitimacy – in fact, the necessity – of salesmen in a Biblical economy, I was asked the question: “How does a salesman establish and build his reputation?” It’s a question of enormous significance. After all, a salesman is not sitting in some office communicating primarily with his co-workers and his boss. A salesman is supposed to be out there communicating with those who make the decision to buy: the customers. As he is out there with the customers, he himself, his person, is the face of his company. His product may be the greatest product ever, it may be at the perfect price, and it might turn out to be the most profitable purchase his customers may make, but to all these factors, one more factor must be added before there is a purchase: the reputation of the salesman. Because, let’s be honest, all the other factors are only potentials for the future; they can’t be tested until the purchase is made and the customer is in a position to use the product. So the only real asset the producer has at the point of sale and negotiation is the personality of his salesman. Or, the reputation of his salesman.

The question is great, and we know need to think of this: what makes the reputation of a salesman? And we need to think about it in a Biblical manner, from a Biblical worldview. We need to make sure that whatever presuppositions we place at the foundation of our view, need to be Biblical presuppositions. I am not saying that a salesman is supposed to go around reciting Biblical verses or singing psalms. (Although, as a curious fact, some time ago some pastor responded to one of my articles that what we need is not more people in the marketplace with a Biblical worldview, but more psalm-singers. Once we had all offices packed up with psalm-singers who sing the psalms every day, Christian business is going to flourish. You can’t make this stuff up, I tell ya.) But a salesman, especially a Christian salesman, is under obligation to understand the only worldview that can guarantee success, and apply that worldview to his job. And when he applies it, his reputation will grow. “Keep and do these commandments, because they are your wisdom and understanding in the sight of the nations” (Deut. 4:6).

So, what is it that builds the reputation of a salesman from the perspective of the Biblical worldview?

We need to start from the beginning, from the complete picture. Without knowing the whole picture, a salesman is lost, even if he is the most skillful salesman ever. So, first, he needs to have a comprehensive view of the world around him and of its economic needs in God’s plan. I know, I know, this sounds kinda of too excessive. A salesman surely doesn’t have to be a philosopher or a theologian? No, not any more than anyone else. But he still should understand the world in its bigger picture – like anyone else should. Without such understanding of the world, we are left without any guidance as to where our place is, and, in fact, without any standard whatsoever about a place, even. Many of the problems in our society today are due to the fact that the majority of Americans have been taught a fragmented view of reality. And I don’t mean just that they were taught such fragmented view of reality in their government schools. It is everywhere. They were taught such a view in their families, in their churches, on their FOX News or CNN or MSN TV channels (whichever was constantly on in their homes), in their cinema theaters, on their commercials, etc. Americans today go about their business informed by an eclectic mish-mash of ideas, and they are capable sometimes of saying things that are, in their logic, inconsistent with themselves, without even stopping for a second to consider how deeply self-contradicting they are. (Think about the modern “conservative” views on immigration, or the modern leftist views on police and gun-control laws.) A salesman, however, if he is to build a long-term reputation, can’t afford to have a fragmented view of reality; he has to demonstrate consistency in his understanding, especially in his understanding of how his work and his products relate to the society and the economy in general. And if he is a Christian, he has to demonstrate consistency with the Biblical worldview, and especially with the Dominion Covenant.

This is easier to say theoretically, but what does it imply in practice? What would it mean to have a comprehensive worldview? It means this (listen carefully): A salesman is supposed to know what products he should sell, and what products he should avoid attaching his name to. Let me repeat it: A salesman is supposed to know what products he should sell, and what products he should avoid attaching his name to. It doesn’t look much on the surface; and many salesmen don’t stop to think much about it. But if you are a Christian and you are looking to have a long-term career in sales, you need to make sure you always understand that the nature of the product you are selling is not morally neutral. And not only if you are looking to have a long-term career in sales; but also if you are looking to start a business in the future. Or engage in activism. Or anything that would involve your personal reputation.

There are products that a righteous salesman shouldn’t be selling in the first place, no matter how attractive the pay is. Now, when you hear that, your first thought is, “drugs.” That’s because your brain was conditioned by statist propaganda. If you are a Southern Baptist, your thought is, “tobacco a