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Birth of a Salesman: The Transformation of Selling in America
by Walter A. Friedman
Product Group: Book
Publisher: Harvard University Press (2004-04-30)
ISBN: 0674012984
EAN: 9780674012981
Dewy Decimal #: 381.10973
Hardcover: 368 pages
Condition: Good
Comments: Former library book with normal stamps and stickers. D/J present with mylar cover. Pages unmarked and crisp.
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Editorial Reviews
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Product Description
In this entertaining and informative book, Walter Friedman chronicles the remarkable metamorphosis of the American salesman from itinerant amateur to trained expert. From the mid-nineteenth century to the eve of World War II, the development of sales management transformed an economy populated by peddlers and canvassers to one driven by professional salesmen and executives. From book agents flogging Ulysses S. Grant's memoirs to John H. Patterson's famous pyramid strategy at National Cash Register to the determined efforts by Ford and Chevrolet to craft surefire sales pitches for their dealers, selling evolved from an art to a science. "Salesmanship" as a term and a concept arose around the turn of the century, paralleling the new science of mass production. Managers assembled professional forces of neat responsible salesmen who were presented as hardworking pillars of society, no longer the butt of endless "traveling salesmen" jokes. People became prospects; their homes became territories. As an NCR representative said, the modern salesman "let the light of reason into dark places." The study of selling itself became an industry, producing academic disciplines devoted to marketing, consumer behavior, and industrial psychology. At Carnegie Mellon's Bureau of Salesmanship Research, Walter Dill Scott studied the characteristics of successful salesmen and ways to motivate consumers to buy. Full of engaging portraits and illuminating insights, Birth of a Salesman is a singular contribution that offers a clear understanding of the transformation of salesmanship in modern America. (20040516)
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Customer Reviews
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An interpretative history of selling in America
Rating  (5)
Date: 2008-06-11
The salesman is "out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine," explained Willy Loman in Arthur Miller's classic drama Death of a Salesman. From its earliest days, America has been a nation of exuberant sales reps, optimists like Loman, who explains, "A salesman is got to dream, boy. It comes with the territory." In the novel, A Bad Man, author Stanley Elkin deconstructs the word salesman: "sales is man." This resonates in the U.S., where the ability to sell represents the acme of commercial achievement. America's tradition of evangelical salesmanship has indelibly colored the country's soul and helped create its rosy self-perception. getAbstract suggests that if you really want to understand America's commercial nature, you should read this enlightening book about the history of sales in the U.S. (For much of its length, the book covers the history of salesmen; women did not really enter the field until the second half of the 20th century.) Backed with comprehensive research, Walter A. Friedman paints a well-crafted portrait of a remarkable field carved out by these iconic, irascible, irrepressible individuals, one deal at a time.
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A fascinating history of selling
Rating (5)
Date: 2005-11-15
1 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
A must-read for anyone interested in the veiled history behind what is the modern salesman and marketing force of today. Witty and intelligent writing with straight-shooting facts about the brave, enigmatic, sometimes scandalous but consistently innovative world of sales and marketing. A well researched book serving as a treasure trove of interesting facts that accumulatively sketch out the industrious nature of our human soul and the engine of the business culture powering our society. Highly recommended.
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Great book with real good historical perspective.
Rating (5)
Date: 2004-08-09
4 out of 4 customers found this reveiw helpful
I have been involved in every aspect of the selling profession for the last 20 years, coporate sales, consulting, new business development, sales relationship management and sales training. I worked for three years for one of the greatest sales trainer in the market, and as I was finishing this book, I kept telling myself how little the general public knows about the PROFESSION of selling. For all sales person, who on the daily basis, tries to make a living, this book will be a great supporting tool. You will be able to finally be really proud of the historical aspects of the selling profession, knowing that our profession is one of the hardest to pick up as a career.
Walter Friedman captures the real picture behind the daily struggles that sales people go through on a daily basis.
Great read and very entertaining.
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Read it!
Rating (5)
Date: 2004-05-08
6 out of 7 customers found this reveiw helpful
This is a terrific book, entertaining, informative, and well written. Highly recommended!
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Entertaining AND scholarly!
Rating (5)
Date: 2004-03-25
11 out of 11 customers found this reveiw helpful
This is the first serious historical study of salesmanship that I know of, and it's terrific. Whether you're an academic, a college student, or someone who just likes history, this is the book for you. It intelligently and entertainingly charts the development of selling from 19th century bible and lightning rod hucksters to the 20th century professional, and discusses why this way of making a living continues to have a bad reputation (the author talks about how there was a post-WWII survey of mothers asking what they hoped their "sons" would grow up to be, and salesman always placed last!). The book is full of entertaining anectdotes and great illustrations-- it isn't often that a serious work of history is also humorous. This one is, and will also inform you about the changes in American society over the past 200 years.
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