It has been another long day of work for Blake.

Blake works in sales. Unfortunately, for Blake nobody wants what he sells. He sells Q-tips. Well, they are essentially Q-tips, but they are called L-tips. There is no difference between the two products except that L-tips come in all shades of color and are bendable to fit into tough to reach ear cavities.

“They’re the best ‘L-ternative’ to Q-tips on the market!” Blake was trained to say at every home he stopped at.

Generally, by the time Blake gets to the word ‘L-ternative,’ the door is already closed.

This is exactly how Blake’s last stop of the day had progressed.

Walking away from the final rejection of the day, Blake thought at least they had a beautiful oak door . Somehow, being turned away didn’t feel quite so bad when the door seemed better off than him.

Being a door-to-door salesman, Blake had learned that a front door communicates volumes about the people within the home. Hardwood doors usually meant a wealthy, but distant kind of person. They almost never bought anything and many times struggled to look him in the eye. It was as if they felt almost sorry for him. Consequently, it was the homes with a worn, peeling door frame that were the most receptive. Occasionally, these people would even buy a package of L-tips, and they would always engage him in conversation.

The last house Blake had stopped at was one of the former. The home had a beautifully carved oak door that was set between two large white columns. It looked magnificent from the roadside, but for Blake it almost certainly meant another rejection.

That was how this entire day had gone. Just another long string of rejections from some of the wealthiest doorways in the county. Now at least Blake had the chance to end the day at the office with all the other sales associates.

Pulling into the parking lot Blake exited his car and walked into the “L-tips” sales building. He made a beeline for the break room where he was sure to find the other sales associates.

Instead, Blake found “L-tip’s” oldest salesman, Gibson. The elderly man sat hunched over a newspaper drinking coffee out of a Styrofoam cup.

“Hello there, Gibson.” Blake said quietly as he walked into the break room.

“Hi Blake.” Gibson replied.

“Do you know where everyone is?” Blake asked.

“Can’t say that I do. How ‘bout you sit down for a few minutes and enjoy some coffee with me?”

Blake felt comfortable with the man. He poured a cup of coffee and sat down across from Gibson.

“Did you have a rough day, son?” Gibson asked. “You seem kinda down.”

“That obvious?” Blake replied, wrinkling his forehead as he looked up.

“Yeah, that obvious. What’s bothering you?”

“Another tough day of sales. I didn’t even meet my quota for the day, and that’s the third time this week.”

“Would you like a little help? I can teach you some of my secrets” Gibson offered.

Even though he was feeling dejected, Gibson’s offer seemed too enticing to pass up. Thinking for a moment, Blake replied “That would be great! Thanks Gibson.”

The pair was on their way. Blake followed Gibson to his car and soon they were on the road. Gibson parked the car at a local diner and opened his car door to get out.

“What are we doing here?” Blake inquired.

“I’m going to land a client! That’s what.” Gibson responded in a hearty voice.

“Okay then. Lead the way.”

The two walked into the diner and sat down at the counter. Sully, the owner walked over to them moments later with a coffee pot in hand.

“How’s it going tonight fellas?” Sully asked in a cheerful tone.

“Good.” Blake answered.

“Same here!” Gibson chimed. “How are the kids doing, Sully?”

The conversation went on for a few more minutes as Sully told the two about the big football game last week when his son scored the winning touchdown. The three laughed together about a funny story about Sully’s other son and a freak accident that somehow involved one of the neighbor’s donkeys.

Sully left to attend to some other customers, leaving Blake and Gibson to finish the last few sips of their coffee.

Getting up to go, Gibson left a few dollars on the table for the coffees and thanked Sully again.

After the two men exited the diner, Blake asked “What was that all about?”

“What do you mean?” Gibson said.

“You didn’t even once mention a word about sales. You didn’t even talk about our product!”

Flashing Blake a grin, Gibson replied “Exactly.”

“What? I’m lost.”

“Blake what I did in there, talking with Sully about his kids, was salesmanship.”

Blake gave Gibson a funny look, but remained listening to every word the man spoke.

Continuing, Gibson said “Remember this, people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. True salesmanship is about more than just a sales pitch. If you can learn that Blake, you will find that a lot less doors get slammed in your face.”