Sprout!: Everything I Need to Know About Sales I Learned from My Garden

Marsha Molloy has had it. Once a top medical products sales representative so crackerjack her nickname was Marsha Money, she’s been laid low by a tough economy and just plain exhaustion. The former top producer has seemingly lost her touch and grown indifferent to a sales culture that appears to value faxes, e-mails, and cell phone chats instead of the relationship building that had been her forte.

Enter Bob Rawlings, the owner of Marsha’s local gardening store. In Bob’s 30 plus years as a successful sales professional, he experienced the same career frustrations, but found that if he treated his business like his garden, his business grew—and a happier, more relaxed salesman appeared. Bob teaches Marsha the secrets of his sales garden, helping her to recharge her career.

The clever sales garden metaphor will change you the way you think about sales. By adhering to the easy, practical steps outlined in Sprout!, you, too, can beat career blues, increase your sales, and sustain yourself for the long term.

Alan Vengel is a founding partner of Vengel Lash Associates, Inc. and a strategic partner with Beverly Kaye & Associates/Career Systems International. He is a consultant, speaker, and educator in the subjects of influence, negotiation, sales, and talent development.
In addition to providing training and consulting services to more than three hundred of America’s largest corporations, he has been a featured speaker at American Society for Training & Development (ASTD) national conferences and the Linkage Leadership Conference.
Alan has an undergraduate degree from the University of Florida and a master’s degree from the University of Arizona. His last book, The Influence Edge: How to Persuade Others to Help You Achieve Your Goals (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2000), was nominated for a California Book Award.
Over the past twenty-seven years, Greg Wright has worked with business leaders and sales professionals from some of the best-performing companies in the world. His work on leadership and sales success has been implemented in a range of industries on six continents.
Greg is an Annapolis graduate with an advanced degree from the University of Arkansas. He served during the Vietnam War before starting his training and consulting business, C.G. Wright & Associates (CGWA), in San Diego, California. CGWA continues to provide performance solutions to corporate America.
A Mississippi native, Greg lives in the Florida Keys with his wife. Their garden yields bananas, mangoes, and key limes.