RPOlosophy

Growing up, I was a Soupy “Milton Supman” Sales fan. I distinctly remember Lunch with Soupy Sales; a series of comedy sketches frequently ending with Sales receiving a pie in the face, which became his trademark. Some of you might remember him for the revival of What’s My Line where he was a panelist alongside such notables as Arlene Francis, Bert Convy, and Nipsey Russell.

So on October 22nd when Soupy Sales died, I decided to fully read his obituary.

Most of the information about the life and times of Soupy Sales was either familiar or routine.

However, the following really struck me as odd. Here’s the passage: “Sales was born Milton Supman on Jan. 8, 1926, in Franklinton, N.C., where his was the only Jewish family in town. His parents, owners of a dry-goods store, sold sheets to the Ku Klux Klan.”

So his Jewish family sold goods to the anti-Semitic Ku Klux Klan. This of course peaked my interest.

Was this some sort of implicit acceptance? Should Soupy’s family have refused to sell sheets to the Ku Klux Klan?

While few of us have ever been in a similar extreme situation (thank God), I think as a Recruitment Process Outsourcing salesperson I am frequently faced with dilemmas in the quest for new clients.

It usually happens when a prospect insists on specifications that are inconsistent, conflicting, or unsuitable. Sometimes these prospects are so entrenched in their ideas that discussion and compromise is out of the question.

I know some is very wrong but then again my job is to sell and drive revenue.

My specific dilemma: If change is out of the question, should I try and make the sale under the incongruities of the “guidelines” or should I walk away?

Maybe I need to look to Soupy for guidance.  Here is the conclusion of the Supman family saga: The family finally packed up their bags and moved away.

I think there is a lesson here we can all learn from.

This entry was posted on Friday, October 30th, 2009 at 11:31 am and is filed under RPOlosophy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.