I have a lot of trophies and plaques that I received before I was 30. I got the trophies because I recruited hundreds of salespeople. They worked for a month or so. Sold a little bit and made a little commission. Then churned (quit). I was OK with that because I made a override commission on what they sold

A few years later, I signed up for Sandler training and learned Rule #20, The Bottom Line of Selling is Going to the Bank. So, do anything, whatever it takes to make the sale and go to the bank. I was good with that. Married, two kids, two houses, two cars, two mortgages, two college tuitions. I liked going to the bank.

Then I spent 20 years as a debt collector. My clients loved me. Read the second story in this post.

So, my first rule of sales and/or coaching is, "Don't be part of or cause the problem."

One more story. My dad was a carpenter. He did additions, remodels, built houses and worked on skyscrapers. One of the biggest projects that he worked on was the boat building in Hartford. I've lived in houses that he built and driven by hundreds of remodels that he did. He died 12 years ago, but these are monuments of his life's work. Anybody can see his monuments.

My trophies and plaques are in a box somewhere and will probably be thrown out when we move to Maine. I dont have to worry about two kids, houses, tuitions, etc. any more. So, I can focus on doing things right.

My 'boat building' is Pete Caputa. Read what Halligan said about Pete. Clearly, my father didn't single-handedly build the boat building, but he could still be pleased with the role that he played. Same with me and Pete. I'm happy with the role that I played and I, like my father, have hundreds of other 'remodels' that you can see when you're out and about in the world.

Pete's "3 Stories" article ended with, "Remember that it’s always about the other person.....Perhaps if more of us fully embraced and practiced these morals, the world would think better of salespeople in general."

Thank you, Pete.