Sales Cliches - Part 4

It's been a while since I visited the subject of sales cliches and yet I still hear some of the most bizarre, made-up-on-the-spot cliches every day at the office. Just yesterday one of our sales managers was on the phone with a customer and said,

"you may be trying to skin the cat that has two layers of fur on it."

Sales Cliches - Part 3

Just seconds ago the sales guy who sits behind me (who is a really good guy, by the way) went on a good old-fashioned Sales Cliche rampage. I've heard, "You're good-to-go" a few times, something about a "silver bullet," "there's more than one way to skin a cat," and then he uttered my new favorite...

You're trying to put twenty pounds of [CENSORED] in a ten pound bag.

I'm just trying to figure out ways that I can incorporate this one at home, at athletic association board meetings and church. Wish me luck.

The Dog and Pony Show

The expression, "dog and pony show" has really caught on here at the office. When one of the sales guys is getting ready to go out on what is likely to be a small scale sales call (yes, they are ALL important) he usually says that he's "heading out for a little dog and pony show." Just seconds ago someone stopped by my desk to ask about one of the sales guys and I said, "He's out doing a little dog and pony show." It went off without a hitch. He knew exactly what I meant and went back to his desk. Obviously, this phrase works here.

So, where did it come from? A highly reliable source (Wikipedia) notes that it had something to do with actual dog and pony shows that were much like circus acts but not big enough for the big top. But I have a hard time imagining getting excited about watching dogs and ponies. What could they possibly do to get me out of the house on a weekend? Maybe this is what people did before Al Gore invented the Interwebs.

Sales Cliches - Part 2

As promised, here's another really weird sales cliche overheard at work (just seconds ago)...

"Sometimes you just got to go in there and take a bite of the $&!+ sandwich. It doesn't taste good, but..."

Honestly, I don't remember the last part (hence the ellipses), but I don't think it matters. When do you HAVE to take a bite of that sandwich? It's never come up in my job. In fact, I've never even heard of the existence of this sandwich and if I did, I'd run for the hills.

EDIT: It occurred to me that one could easily misunderstand what was said. Since this is a family blog, I'll just point out that the "$&!+" was not a substitution for a word like, "darn" or "dang" but rather a word used instead of "poop" or "crap." Ick.

Sales Cliches - Part 1

While the rest of the economy continues to nose dive, I've been blessed to work for a company that is growing. As a result, we just moved to a new office space. It's much bigger and nicer than our old place. Overall, it's a great move for our company. However, in the process, I went from having an office of my own to a cubical. I don't really mind it at all, but I get to hear everyone else talk (and vice versa).

Since I work in the Sales & Marketing department, I get to hear (and sometimes use) some of the best cliches in the business world. Of course, I also catch quite a few cliches that are invented right on the spot. For instance, to day I heard one of our sales guy utter this one...

"Are we cutting the pie into more slices or are we adding more pie."


Personally, I'm always in favor of more pie.

This could turn into a great source for blog entries (although some are not appropriate for this blog--but they're funny), so stay tuned.