How to Become a Great Salesman

salesmanIt could be stocks, cars, widgets, ads, stereos, it doesn’t matter: there’s a high percentage of you that will ‘get’ to experience possibly this less-than-glamorous career path.

“The word ’salesperson’ conjures up a lot of stereotypes,” says Jeffery Fox, a Harvard Business graduate and founder of Fox & Company, an award-winning marketing consulting firm. ‘It makes me think of Glengarry Glen Ross. That is NOT a good example of a sales person. It can be a school teacher selling students on writing, parents selling a kid on cleaning a room - it’s more than just sales.”

In his book Secrets of Great Rainmakers, Fox goes to great lengths to differentiate between a normal salesperson and a rainmaker, who is a salesperson that “sells the most, makes the best, and does it during any condition.”

The good news? Fox can make you rain - or is that reign?

Is becoming a ‘rainmaker’ easy? Is it teachable?

The best sales people are actually modest, quiet and ask a lot of questions. That’s something that can be taught. But it’s hard for schools to do. Very few faculty have the necessary battle scars; they come from an academic-oriented mindset, a lot statistics. That’s not what I teach. Read More »

“Battle of the Bods” is Brutal

Battle of the Bods

Fox sure knows how to make brainless, uncomfortable programming.

If The Moment of Truth flirts with disaster, Battle of the Bods goes right for the jugular: it consists of five girls who compare each other’s assets on a scale from 1 to 5, in hopes of placing each other in the same rated order as three judge(mental) dudes watching them from behind a two-way mirror.

The girl who matches the judge’s decisions closest wins a cash prize.

American values, you’ve done it again! Read More »

Fox Will Put “Truth” to the Test - But Will Viewers?

Lie DetectorThis January, Fox will be trudging out Moment of Truth, a new show that pits mankind versus the most diabolical of machines: lie detectors.

Lie detectors, the unveiling of personal secrets, absolute truth - what could possibly go wrong?

Fox, ever the innovators, ordered the pilot for Moment of Truth in August, which is based on the successful (and recently canceled) Columbian series, Nothing But the Truth. As the Columbian rendition has proven, lie detector shows can get a bit messy when certain questions are asked.

Fox has taken precautions since that debacle, and will stick to questions about a contestant’s personal history, not legal matters. Read More »

The Daily Shocker: Paris to Help Drunk Elephant Problem in India

Paris Hilton Elephant

Yeah…so not the Paris we expected either.

The saddest draft drought in history may be upon us.

If it wasn’t hard enough already, girls now have video blogs about how to avoid kissing men.

VIDEO: Waste of time or “wasted time!? – you make the call.

Real men don’t cry…unless they’re watching these 25 hankie-worthy flicks.

Jack Bauer gets an extended vacation; the world heads towards certain destruction.

In Japan, they take the phrase “Get rich or die trying” to extremes.

“24″ Season 7 Trailer

24 Season 7

Jack is back, and season seven of 24 has the same plot as Live Free or Die Hard!

The writers say, “There will not be a ticking clock on a nuclear device [and] the villain is not a terrorist [but] someone with a supremely dark past who’s done something horrific and whose ambition is to regain his stature in the world.”

Although this plot sounds somewhat generic nothing gets me off quite like a technological driven apocalypse - consider me on board!

Check out the Season 7 trailer after the jump! Read More »

Video Trifecta: Arrested Development

Arrested Development

There will never be a sitcom funnier, smarter and more likeable than FOX’s critically-lauded-yet-ratings-deficient Arrested Development.

I can understand that if you didn’t see the show from the beginning, you may wonder what the fuss is all about. If that’s the case do yourself a favor and buy/Netflix/download the Emmy-award winning first season. Watch it, love it, obsess over it. Join the cult - there are dozens of us…dozens!

To whet your appetites COED has rounded up a few choice clips from the show.

The laughter starts after the jump! Read More »

The Daily Shocker: Cupcakes, Larry Craig and a Children’s Army

The Daily Shocker

Schools ban cupcakes in fear of promoting obesity. Next up: schools ban talking in fear of students having fun. (NY Times)

Sen. Larry Craig plans on resigning after recently issuing a statement on not resigning. He sounds confused…or REALLY, REALLY GAY! (Guardian)

“Kid Nation” to be one-upped by Fox’s “Kid Army,” a show that places chidren from ages 7 -15 in troops to complete missions using weapons. In related news: Dakota Fanning burns training bra in anti-war revolt. (BBspot)

The (internet) world is governed by “The Vetted,” a 13-strong group of cyber-commanders with the power to wipe out an IP address permanently. THE VETTED ARE GAY! (If CO-ED ceases to exist after that statement, you’ll know why.) (Foreign Policy)

Councilwoman in Florida will not face charges after her daughter was found covered in oil, clothes ripped. Some say exorcism, I say “sexorcism.” (WFTV)

Garofalo on 24, Will Jack Survive?

Janeane GarofaloFOX’s 24, one of the best shows on television is undergoing a revamp. The show is an action/drama set in real-time, about government agent Jack Bauer, played by Kiefer Sutherland, and his trials to avert disaster in twenty-four hours. The series is critically acclaimed and extremely popular for pacing, ability to weave together subplots and its “take no prisoners” attitude towards action.

However, this past year during its sixth season 24’s quality began to decline. Therefore, the seventh season will shift its focus from the fight against global terrorism to a more a personal conflict for the main character. And with the new focus comes some new members to the cast, most notably in outspoken liberal Janeane Garofalo as an FBI agent.

As someone who has watched 24 since the beginning, the new direction intrigues me. Sometimes a change of direction is needed to keep a show fresh and it will be interesting to see Jack deal with a personal conflict especially if it’s a figure from his past that has come to kill him. However if the show turns into the final years of The Sopranos with Jack sitting on the lake rather than taking terrorists out, I might go “Jack Bauer” on the studio. Which brings me to the addition of Garofalo. Read More »