[an excerpt from the unpublished 'The Dark Side of Sales'] 

You: the Sales Boss

The Mob: your wide-eyed Sales guy

The Situation: The wide-eyed Sales guy writes to you, “He told me that he wants us to dangle a carrot in front of him, so that he can see how we will return his investment.  He is much more interested in dollars saved than peace of mind. Is there anything I can give him to get him over the hump?”

Preamble: I know exactly what you are thinking. It is the first thing that hit me too. “What! Are we grocers?” ... "No, of course we are not grocers".

Then, I’m thinking,

"We have no produce and we have no Sales people who can produce." 

"Our cupboard is bare."

"And now this customer guy is asking us for carrots."

***

and so, a sales lesson followed...