The Sales History Podcast

The First National Salesforce: How Cooke’s Sales Army Saved the Union You’ve heard about Abraham Lincoln. You’ve heard about Ulysses S. Grant. They’re credited with putting down the rebellion during the Civil War. But there was a forgotten sales master who may have...

Early 1900s Sales Hiring: Timeless, or Taboo? We believe we know today the traits it takes to be a successful salesperson, but do we? In the early 1900s, while many of the thoughts were the same as today, there was some "off-limits" thinking as well. In this...

Episode #50! Beyond a Reasonable Doubt: Sales Hasn’t Changed In this, the 50th episode of The Sales History Podcast, I step into the role of prosecuting attorney to put one bold claim on trial: that the sales profession has changed dramatically in the past decade....

The Tales of an 1800s Traveling Salesman - “Uncle Charlie” I got "lit up" by a social media troll...and it turns out, the troll was right! I was complaining about my seat on a plane; a metal tube traveling 500 mph 35,000 feet above the earth. Me, sitting...

John Patterson's Notes To His Salespeople in 1893 Imagine: it's spring 1893. You're a salesperson for the National Cash Register Corporation (NCR). Your ultimate boss? Oh, it's just the founder of the modern sales profession...John H. Patterson. The person...

Will AI Kill the Sales Profession - What History Tells Us Is AI coming for the sales profession? Will "everything change"? Turns out, history can help us predict the future of the sales profession in the face of the rise of AI. Because, as I read all of the...

Selling During World War I: Selling With Purpose What would it be like to be a salesperson during a World War? Well, it's happened twice, and in this episode, we explore the lens by which salespeople were asked to do their jobs during World War I. It's an...

"Bradford, you're fired!" A Salesperson's Story from 1918 In the January 1918 edition of Business Philosopher Magazine, a story by William W. Woodbridge was printed. It's the story of a down-and-out salesperson, John Bradford, who essentially fired himself! It’s a...

From Trusted - to Derided. Where the Sales Profession Went Wrong The beginnings of the modern sales profession (1890-1920) were associated with trust, respect, and even admiration. 100 years later, the sales profession sits at the bottom of Gallup's annual listings...