There are some really interesting gimmicks that are used at some of the sales seminars I have attended. I once sold Discovery Toys (not a bad gig, really). At a the first sales seminar I attended, a woman was introduced as the #1 sales person of the year with a total of four zillion in sales. She held one of the cool little plastic chain links that Dicovery Toys sells. She then asked for a show of hands for those who had sold a half a zillion dollars worth of merchandise this month. She gave a plastic link to each. Then she asked to see a show of hands for a lesser increment in sales, gave each a link, and so on until she finally got down to a number with which I could identify, zero. Then she asked us all to hold our links up high. And in that moment she showed us that we were all equally important parts of the orgainization and that we were all linked together by Discovery Toys. Hooray! Yee Hah!

I was truly impressed. I felt that I was important. I felt empowered. I went right home and sold something! But by the end of the following week, my enthusiasm had waned and I needed another "fix" of sales spirit. It wasn't going to be available for at least a month. And so my sales career quietly fizzled. Again.

But I got to keep my samples kit! My kids grew up with some of the world's finest toys!