What Dogs Can Teach Us About Sales

4. Don’t worry about the competition. Worry about the customer—My friend also has a cat. It’s some fluffy, expensive breed whose mere existence is a constant irritant to The Boys. Still, Boo-Boo competes for attention. For a while, they chased It around (not sure of the cat's gender and I ain’t looking to find out) but when they realized that to be a waste of time, they used that energy to please the hands that feed them. Smart move.

Dogs have a natural advantage over salespeople. For the most part, they are cute and create an instant desire to love them or, at bare minimum, scratch behind their ear. We humans have to work much harder for that kind of attention. Still, we can learn a lot through observation.

Sit, Ubu, sit.

Bill Farquharson is a Vice President at NAPL. His training programs can drive the sales of print reps and selling owners. Check out his Sales Resources page and contact him at (781) 934-7036 or bfarquharson@napl.org.