Blood of a Salesman

Credit: eduardrobert, Getty Images

Last month, motivated after watching an incredible HBO Max original series about an emergency room, “The Pitt,” I gave blood for the first time. I sat back in the reclining chair, arm outstretched, squeezing a little rubber ball to keep the crimson river flowing. The website for the American Red Cross conveys, “If you can get past any fear, you’ll do a lot of good.” Seeing a parallel with making sales calls, I made an appointment and did the deed.

As the nurse taped the cotton ball in place and sent me on my way with a juice box and a “thank you,” I had a quirky thought — one that could only come from someone steeped in decades of sales experience:
What if the person who receives my blood wakes up with a sudden, unexplainable urge to … make cold calls? What if they start organizing the day ahead, questioning their voicemail strategy when calling friends, or spending far too much time thinking about LinkedIn headlines? What if, without warning, they become … a salesperson?

I chuckled at the thought. But then I thought some more. What exactly is in the blood of a salesperson?

Let’s put the question under a microscope.

1 | Persistence Platelets

Salespeople are not known for their subtlety. No, in sales, you get far by being pleasantly persistent.
Imagine this poor soul sitting in their hospital bed post-transfusion. The nurse walks in to check their vitals and suddenly they blurt out, “What’s the budget for this interaction? Who else is involved in the decision-making process?”

That’s not rudeness. That’s just the sales gene kicking in. It’s in the bloodstream now.

Salespeople don’t give up easily. We follow up after rejection. We call five times when others quit after just one. We email, we message, we knock on metaphorical doors, and when the literal ones are locked, we find side windows to climb through (figuratively, of course … probably).

2 | Curiosity Antibodies

Salespeople see opportunities where others don’t. They wonder about origin stories, clients’ needs, and ask “What if?” a lot.

We call that “discovery,” but really, it’s curiosity. And it’s contagious. Just ask any salesperson who’s gone down the rabbit hole researching a new vertical or dissecting a prospect’s LinkedIn page for clues into someone’s likely personality.

Once this transfusion kicks in, I fully expect my recipient to start noticing the importance of print or help their high schooler navigate the college admissions process and wonder if there is a better way.

They’ve never cared before and they won’t know why they care now. But they will.

3 | Confidence Cells

Let’s face it: Nobody really enjoys rejection. But in sales, we learn to shake it off, crack a joke, and make the next call anyway. That takes confidence.

It’s the same confidence that lets us walk into a boardroom full of skeptics and pitch like we own the place. It’s the confidence that turns a cold call into a conversation. And yes, it’s the confidence that allows me to say, “Sure, give me a needle and drain a pint — I have a Printing Impressions column to write and you’ve just given me a great idea.”

If you receive my blood, you’ll likely wake up with a little extra swagger. Maybe you’ll start negotiating better. Maybe you’ll stop apologizing for your pricing. Or maybe — God help your family — you’ll start explaining why everyone needs to take shorter showers via a PowerPoint presentation.

4 | Rejection Resilience

If you’ve ever seen a toddler try to stack blocks that keep falling, only to pick them up and try again (and again … and again), you’ve seen sales in its purest form.

Salespeople are told “no” more often than teenagers ask to borrow the car. But unlike teenagers, we don’t sulk (much). We learn. We adapt. We get better.

The person with my blood might wake up and suddenly have a weird appreciation for failure. They might see each “no” as a stepping stone. They might hear an objection as a request for more information. They might start quoting Dale Carnegie or Zig Ziglar or, God forbid, me.

They’ll be able to take a hit, metaphorically dust themselves off, and come back with, “Ok, I understand. But just so I know for next time, what stopped you from saying yes today?” Or perhaps, if they lose a bid, they combine a number of different sales traits and call the customer two weeks after the job ships to ask how things went, if they were happy, and (the money question) did the winning vendor make a follow-up call like this?

5 | Strategic Sales Sugars

Good salespeople aren’t just grinders. We’re thinkers. We build processes. We track conversions. We analyze trends. We align value propositions with pain points. We don’t “wing it” — not if we’re doing it right.

I imagine the person who receives my blood waking up with a sudden urge to color-code a spreadsheet or sketch out a buyer’s journey on a napkin. They won’t know why, but it’ll feel right. They might even start building a funnel in their head every time they talk to someone. (“Hmm … this person is Top of Funnel. Time to nurture.”)

6 | Empathy Enzymes

This might be the most important part.

Sales isn’t about slick pitches or clever closes. It’s about people. It’s about listening, understanding, and helping someone solve a problem they maybe didn’t even know they had.

I hope my blood carries that with it. I hope the person who receives it wakes up not just wanting to sell, but to serve. That’s what great salespeople do. We help. We care. Deeply.

So, what happens next? I like to imagine it this way: One day, a person walks out of the hospital feeling a little different. They go back to work, and everything seems a bit more … urgent. More meaningful. They start organizing their time, making goals, asking better questions. They start solving problems instead of avoiding them. One afternoon, they pick up the phone and say, “Hi there, I know I’m calling out of the blue, but I had an idea that might help your business grow ... ”

And just like that, another salesperson is born.

Final Thoughts

I know this whole idea is a bit tongue-in-cheek. But there’s something beautiful about imagining our traits — our grit, our optimism, our dedication — being transfused into someone else.

I didn’t just give blood. I gave sales blood. And the fact that it’s Farquharson blood, well, that’s an entirely different column! Somewhere out there, someone’s sales career might just be getting started. Or maybe they’ll never make a call, but they’ll live with a little more persistence, confidence, empathy, and resilience than before.

And if that happens, I’ll call that a win.