Sales Training Blog

Salesman Carl Birkenshaw Not Guilty Of Assault

On the 28th October Confessions Of A Salesman ran a story which we picked up via the UK Daily Mail called: Give Me the Sale or I will Punch You

This is a Follow Up to the “story” - you see, the salesman in question - Carl Birkenshaw was found NOT GUILTY at court on the 5th November.

It appears that most people / most media and indeed rather shamefacedly ourselves here at Confessions Of A Salesman want to assume the worst about sales people.

Today we are pleased to correct that “story” - please see:
Carl Birkenshaw has been cleared of assaulting customer

I have been in contact with Carl and there is no doubt he is a sincere, professional guy, one that the selling profession should be proud of - there is also no doubt that he has been through a Nightmare of a time.

It is a Nightmare I dare say many people would never recover from - but my impression is that Carl is very strong of character and will handle this much better than most of us. That said, it is any professional sales person nightmare. Think, if you were a Doctor or a School Teacher and you were accused of professional malpractice and the implications of that - even when you are proved NOT GUILTY.

This is what Carl is having to recover from and rebuild his career around. There is no doubt that the real “story” here is the way that the MEDIA sees us salespeople and that is something we should all be working at to correct.

Carl Birkenshaw We Wish You Well and we are pleased to say it LOUD and CLEAR - NOT GUILTY! NOT GUILTY!

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We have talked a lot about the different techniques and tricks you can use to improve your sales skills. Everything from building rapport to the qualifying process to knowing when to close a deal. But what happens if none of this works? What happens if you have given in 110% and the sale seems to have slipped away like an eel in a stream of cooking oil?

(Special Note - Please See 6th November Update at end of this post)

According to the Daily Mail, one salesman (Carl Birkenshaw) decided that punching the customer was the best option. He did this simply because the customer had spoken to a rival company.

Carl Birkenshaw, 42, allegedly threw a series of punches at George Dixon after accusing him and his wife of wasting his time during a meeting at the couple’s home.

He erupted with rage when Mr Dixon informed him that they had already sought a quote from another firm for new windows to be fitted into their luxury conservatory.

Attacking his rival’s reputation and quality of work he went on to criticise the Dixons for calling him out to their home and repeatedly refused to leave, the court heard.

When Mr Dixon tried to usher him towards the front door Birkenshaw grabbed him by the throat and swung two punches at him, Bedlington magistrates court was told.

Mr Dixon retaliated and punched Birkenshaw on the chin, knocking him back on to the settee.

As Birkenshaw got up Mr Dixon is said to have tripped and fallen backwards onto the floor. Towering over him Birkenshaw then allegedly said: ‘I’ve got you now, you bastard.’

The sales manager leapt on top of Mr Dixon before punching him at least three times in the face whilst his hysterical wife, Evelyn, telephoned the police, the hearing was told.

Mr Dixon managed to get up and heard his wife tell Birkenshaw that the police were on their way. The salesman ran past him, grabbed his briefcase and left the house.

But before driving off in his car he turned furiously to Mr Dixon and said he would bring people round to ’sort him out’.

Mr Dixon, who was left bleeding from his mouth and with injuries to his face and shoulder, was later seen by his GP and prescribed painkillers for the effects of the punches.

The extraordinary fight occurred in February this year after Birkenshaw was invited to the couple’s home in Cramlington, Northumberland, to give them a quote for their conservatory.

When Mr Dixon later informed him that they had also spoken to another company, Birkenshaw, a salesman for Paramount Windows and Conservatories, allegedly lost his temper.

It is people like Carl that are giving this industry a bad name. So if you are struggling to close as many sales as you would like, then bookmark Confessionsofasalesman.co.uk and we will guide you through all the very best sales techniques and tips.

Note: If anyone knows Carl, tell him to visit the site as well, it sounds like he needs a few lessons.

VERY GOOD NEWS: 6th November 2007

Confessions of A Salesman has just heard that Carl Birkenshaw has been cleared of assaulting customer - please see:
Carl Birkenshaw has been cleared of assaulting customer

In Particular note:

Graham Auld, managing director of Paramount Windows, told magistrates Mr Birkenshaw was an outstanding employee and he had never received a single complaint from a customer about him.

Chairman of the bench, Pam Brown, said they believed Mr Birkenshaw’s version of events and that he acted in self-defence when struck by Mr Dixon.

This is really good news - and even though the original post is now out of date I think the fact that Carl Birkenshaw has been cleared is very important. It is rare for a customer to assult a salesperson - and frankly the media is such that almost always the “Sales Person” will be seen in a bad light. Here at Confessions Of A Salesman we would like to redress that imbalance more often. Carl has no doubt been through a terrible experience - but the fact that his employers have stuck by him and supported him is admirable.

I just trust that all that other media who reported on this when it first came to court will also follow up and give details of the Final Verdict.

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Proud To Be A Salesman

I am proud to be a salesman because more than any other man, I and millions of others like me, built a better world.

The man who builds a better mousetrap - or a better anything - would starve to death if he waited for people to beat a pathway to his door. Regardless of how good, or how needed, the product or service might be, it has to be sold.

“Eli Whitney was laughed at when he showed his cotton gin. Edison had to install his electric light free of charge in an office building before anyone would even look at it. The first sewing machine was smashed to pieces by a Boston mob. , People scoffed at the idea of railroads. They thought that even travelling thirty miles an hour would stop the circulation of the blood! McCormick strived for fourteen years to get people to use his reaper. Westinghouse was considered a fool for stating that he could stop a train with wind. Morse had to plead before ten Congresses before they would even look at his telegraph.

The public didn’t go around demanding these things; they had to be sold!

They needed thousands of salesmen, trailblazers, pioneers, people who could persuade with the same effectiveness as the inventor could invent. Salesmen took these inventions, sold the public on what these products could do, taught customers how to use them, and then taught businessmen how to make a profit from them.”

As a salesman I’ve done more to the world what it is today than any other person you know. I was just as vital in your great-great grandfather’s day as I am in yours, and I’ll be just as vital in your great-great-grandson’s day. I have educated more people; created more jobs; taken more drudgery from the labourer’s work; given more profits to businessmen; and have given more people a fuller and richer life than anyone in history. I’ve dragged prices down, pushed quality up, ‘and made it possible for you to enjoy the comforts and luxuries of cars, radios, electric refrigerators, televisions, and double glazed homes and buildings. I’ve healed the sick, given security to the aged, and put thousands of young men and women through college. I’ve made it possible for inventors to invent, for factories to hum, and for ships to sail the seven seas.

How much money you find in your pay envelope next week, and whether in the future you will enjoy the luxuries of pre-fabricated homes, stratospheric flying airplanes, and a new world of jet propulsion and atomic power, depends on me. The loaf of bread that you bought today was on a baker’s shelf because I made sure that a farmer’s wheat got to a mill, that the mill made the wheat into flour, and that the flour was delivered to your baker.

Without me the wheels of industry would come to a grinding halt. And with that, jobs, marriages, politics, and freedom of thought would be a thing of the past. I AM A SALESMAN and I’m both proud and grateful that as such I serve my family, my fellow man, and my country.

I Am a Salesman - AUTHOR UNKNOWN

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