One day, the manager of the department went to check how his new salesman was working. He asked the new salesman, "How many customers1 do you have today?" The answer is "One." "Only one? Then how much have you sold today?" "$60,000."
The manager was very surprised, and asked for the reason. The salesman said, "I sold him a fishhook2 first, surely with the fishing pole and fish line. Then I asked him where he was going to fish, he said ‘the south seaside', thus I recommended4 him a boat, and he bought that 6-meter-long motorboat. Later I said that his car might not be able to carry that motorboat, and took him to the Auto division and urged him to buy a truck, he did it."
The manager was very pleased, asked, "It's so great that you can sell so many things to him when he only came for a fishhook!"
The salesman answered, "No, he came to buy a bottle of aspirin for his wife. And I suggested ‘You will be free this weekend! Why not go fishing?'"
Notes:
1. customer 顧客
2. fishhook 釣鉤
3. fish line 釣絲
4. recommend 推薦
百貨公司經(jīng)理核查新售貨員的工作情況,問新來的售貨員:“你今天有幾個顧客?”回答說“一個?!薄爸挥幸粋€嗎?那賣了多少錢貨物呢?”“6萬美元?!?
經(jīng)理大為驚訝,要售貨員詳細解釋。售貨員說:“我先賣給他一枚釣鉤,接著賣給他釣竿和釣絲。再問他打算去哪里釣魚,他說到南方海岸去。我說該有艘小船才方便,于是他買了那艘6米長的小汽艇。我又說他的汽車也許拖不動汽艇,于是我?guī)テ嚥?,賣給他一輛大車。”
經(jīng)理喜出望外,問道:“那人來買一枚釣鉤,你竟能向他推銷掉那么多東西!”
售貨員答道:“不,其實他是來給他老婆買一瓶阿司匹林的。我聽他那么說,便給他提建議,‘這個周末你可以自由自在的了。為什么不去釣魚呢?’”
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阿司匹林(Aspirin)誕生于1899年3月6日。早在1853年夏,弗雷德里克·熱拉爾(Gerhardt)就用水楊酸與醋酐合成了乙酰水楊酸,但沒能引起人們的重視。1898年德國化學家菲霍夫曼又進行了合成,并為他父親治療風濕關節(jié)炎,療效極好。1899年由德萊塞介紹到臨床,并取名為Aspirin。