Under The Big TopP.T. Barnum was more than master of the show; he may very well have been the greatest salesman on earth.
ByBill Kelley•
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Quick: Name your favorite sales guru. Zig Ziglar? Tom Hopkins?How about P.T. Barnum? Well, Barnum wouldn't be my first choiceeither, but Houston consultant Joe Vitale says he should be on thetop of any serious businessperson's list. "He was a mastershowman, for sure," says Vitale, who teaches a sales andmarketing course based on the 19th century entrepreneur'sbusiness philosophy. "But he was also a really greatsalesman."
Vitale, author ofThere's a Customer Born EveryMinute(Amacom), says that once you get past the image ofBarnum as a well-dressed carny, you'll likely find asalesperson who was far ahead of his time. "Barnum had greatrespect for the customer," says Vitale. "Long before itwas popular, he believed it was a key to beingsuccessful."
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