Everybody thinks selling face to face is the hard part. It is not. Across a desk, the buyer does half your work for you — crossed arms, wandering eyes, a glance at the clock. The truth is written all over them.

I learned sales in the middle of chaos. The Wall Street days — phones ringing off the hook, desks buried in paperwork, managers walking the aisles to see who was dialing and who was just looking busy. If you weren't on the phone, you weren't working. It was that simple.