SELLING: Making the Pie Bigger

What ever happened to the great American salesman? In a new book, Why Do People Buy? (McGraw Hill; $3.50), the editors of FORTUNE conclude that he may not be gone forever, but at least he is deep in hiding. Almost everywhere they looked—in drugstores, department stores, gas stations—FORTUNE'S editors found little evidence of the old-style selling that helped make the U.S. economy great. "An unfortunately large proportion of businessmen," they conclude, "do not look on selling as an integral function of management . . . They view selling as an after-the-fact activity in which the principal job is to...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!