Maslow on Management

Memorandum on Salesmen and Salesmanship

This is on the grounds that any enterprise which wishes to endure over a long period of time and to remain in a healthy and growing state would certainly want a non-manipulative trusting, relationship with its customers rather than the relationship of the quick fleecing, never to see them again.

One characterological difference that seemed to show up very quickly was that the characteristic salesman was much more a short-range person, wanting quick results, wanting a steady and quick flow of rewards and reinforcements. This is a little like saying that he is a more “practical” person, and then it occurred to me that this contrasts with the more “theoretical” kind of person. And this contrast, in turn, may possibly be phraseable in terms of short range in time and space versus long range in time and space. The “practical” person in this sense has less ability to delay. He needs quick success and quick wins. This should mean that he works within a shorter time span, and I think this would be testable. That is, for him the next few hours, the next few days, constitute the present, in contrast with the more theoretical person for whom the present may spread over into several years hence.

Then, what I mean by short range or narrow range in space is something like this: The characteristic salesman type gets his eyes focused on a particular deal ...