How To Sell Toothbrushes
The kids filed back into class on Monday morning. They were very excited. Their weekend assignment was to sell something, then give a talk on productive salesmanship.
Little Sally led off: “I sold girl scout cookies and I made $30,” she said proudly. “My sales approach was to appeal to the customer’s civil spirit, and I credit that approach for my obvious success.”
“Very good,” said the teacher.
Little Jenny was next: “I sold magazines,” she said. “I made $45 and explained to everyone that magazines would keep them up on current events.”
“Very good, Jenny,” said the teacher.
Eventually, it was Little Johnny’s turn. The teacher held her breath …
Little Johnny walked to the front of the classroom and dumped a box full of cash on the teacher’s desk. “Here’s $2,467,” he said.
“Two thousand dollars!” cried the teacher. “What in the world were you selling?”
“Toothbrushes,” said Little Johnny.
“Toothbrushes?!” echoed the teacher. “How could you possibly sell enough tooth brushes to make that much money?”
“I found the busiest corner in town,” said Little Johnny. “I set up a Chip & Dip stand and gave everybody who walked by a free sample.”
Johnny continued: “And they all said the same thing, ‘Hey, this tastes like dog poop!’ ”
“Then I would say, ‘It is dog poop. Wanna buy a toothbrush?’ ”
“I used the governmental approach of giving you something poopy for free, and then making you pay to get the poopy taste out of your mouth.”
