The entity of sales has tried on many shoes through the years, as it has tried to keep with the times. I remember the first time I read the play, Death of a Salesman in high school, and though the demise of Willie Loman was lamentable, I was more intrigued by the fact that salesmen would traverse door-to-door. My grandfather assured me that these three-dimensional, marketing creatures did indeed exist at one time. Though their approach has changed, companies had and most likely always will have something to sell us.

We were once graced with the presence of a living, breathing, and smiling human at our doors, then it became more convenient for companies to retract the body while still blessing us with the human voice via telephone. Though we still can anxiously await those darling calls around dinner time, we are even more deprived of human contact by the advent of the Internet, which has vastly become a tool for selling and marketing products and services. Where have all the salesmen gone?

In the Beginning

So, what did cause the deaths of the salesmen? Well, perhaps we have to go back to the beginning. During the 20s and 30s in our country, we were in an intense state of production, a good deal of products were new, so the concept of 'outselling your competitor,' didn't really exist. I remember reading a quote from Henry Ford, "You can have any color car you want, as long as it is black."

Being 'customer sensitive' was not something to be thought of because things were in high demand and short supply. Ah, but America would not stand for this, production began catching up with demand, and then it was vital for companies to compete for the highly coveted sale. But from the late 30s to early 50s, the only way to get to your consumer was through the radio. Heads of companies did not have the patience to advertise on radio, so they came up with the stellar idea of taking their products to the street ushered along by the traveling salesman. The salesman needed to be equipped with transportation, determination, and the product.

Training consisted of a generic and formulaic sales spiel that could be reiterated to housewives and tired husbands salivating for their dinners come nightfall. Companies assumed that if their traveling man visited enough houses speaking the same sentences, eventually something would give and a sale would be born. Brushes, pans, vacuum cleaners, and encyclopedias (preceding the 'Age of Information') were some of the most popular items showcased by the salesmen (those sweet, fast-talking salesmen).

A New Medium

In the mid 50s, the gods provided us with the invention of the television. These electronic beings started flipping into homes like hotcakes, and now advertisers needed only to beam blurbs about their products into any home that had a set. Our beloved traveling salesmen started to become extinct, having to retreat into niche and specialty markets (sorry Willie).

Calling All Customers

We are going to jump a couple decades now to the late 70s, where the beginning of telephone sales, or do I dare to say it, telemarketing was introduced- cursed days! Initially started by the Bell System to introduce new services, companies now thought it would be clever to not only plague our minds through the television, but through the telephone as well. Companies quickly learned that there was an evolution taking place here: the traveling salesman could talk to the consumer in person, but very seldom (if ever) followed-up or returned. They would just march on to the next town. There was a 'been there, sold that attitude.'

With television, companies could grab the attention of more potential customers and it was a lot more reliable and economically sound, but the problem was that there was no interaction with the customer. Now companies had competition, so even if consumers viewed a company's advertisements, viewers were also susceptible to the competition as well.

Calling potential customers on the phone, however, was a consistent way to inform them of new products, asking for feedback on existing products, and making new sales. Willie was resurrected but in a new form; you couldn't see that shining smile anymore, you had to envision it vicariously through his voice.


Through the years, the consumers grew very jaded towards the voice-operated salespeople, even coming up with laws to protect us from them. The voice on the other end reinvented itself through voice-automation services (yet another death of a salesman). The companies that still provided us with actual people on the other end of the line tried to fool us by coming up with nifty names like, 'customer service specialists' and 'account executives,' but we knew it was still Willie wearing another name.

The Age of Technology

Though you can trace the genesis of the Internet back to 69 (funny how the end of the hippies marked the beginning of the techies- but I digress), it did not have a prolific existence in homes until somewhere in the mid 90s. The Internet was really just a great way to tap into information and e-mail was another way of talking to Aunt Martha without having to have her keep your ear glued to the phone amidst her nonsense. We should never underestimate the power of the sale; companies had an epiphany. The Internet, being so popular, was yet another tremendous way of promoting products.

Companies figured it would be just like T.V., and technically it wouldn't be as abrasive as the telemarketer's phone call.. They assumed a potential customer could be smoothly surfing the net looking at the news or digging for information and then, BAM here comes a pop-up greeting, just to say hello and maybe to entice you to link to a website which features some products that you could possibly buy.


It is projected that over a billion of us use the Internet regularly worldwide (Willie could never get around that quickly, even in the days of his youth). Everyday more and more people are choosing to buy on-line than off-line. Why not? You can peruse at your own pace, you can check out different prices at the touch of a finger, and you don't have to deal with (sorry, Willie) salesmen. Even the specialty of the 'specialists' is being taken over by the writing of content as far as the products go on-line. Anyone with a computer and a mouse can become a 'specialist' if they devote the time to 'reading up' on a product.

Conclusion - The Return of Willie?

Research suggests that advertisers prefer the Internet well above any other medium in offering their products and services. The deaths of Willie are many (and a bit poignant in a way). We the consumers seem to prefer to be left alone in our quests to buy. We are definitely buying more than ever, but at our own autonomous convenience. They say that things always come in cycles, so maybe there is a chance for Willie to be resurrected again. One day when you hear the doorbell chime, maybe you will get an opportune chance to see that shining smile of Willie all decked out in his suit and shiny shoes with a whole new spiel and deals to offer.