The Best Sales People

Billy Mays The King of Direct Response William Darrell "Billy" Mays, Jr. (born 20-07-09, died 28-06-09)

With the advent of television in the USA in the 1950’s, a whole new way of making sales was opened up.  Early programmes were often blatant selling without too much serious content which caused a backlash from viewers.  Advertising or selling on TV in the USA was softened so that there became more of a distinction between the programme watched and any sales pitches in between.

As TV technology changed, prices came down on purchasing televisions and an increasing audience skyrocketed in volume, so selling changed on television.  Towards the end of the 20^th Century, there were literally hundreds of channels all trying to fill their air-time.  This led to a way of selling known as the ‘Infomercial’ that started out filling the very late night and early morning slots where fewer audiences were watching programmes.  The rise of the infomercial led to an appetite by viewers for charismatic sales people, of whom Billy Mays was one of the most prolific performers.

Billy Mays’ appearance was aimed at the consumer rather than the business person.  His clothing was casual and he sported a full beard – a departure from the suit, tie and clean-shaven business salesman.  Billy May’s selling style is known as ‘Direct Response’ because this genre of selling made a call to action for the consumer to respond to a telephone number where they could buy the product he was showcasing.

Billy May showcased products for OxiClean, Orange Glo, etc for the home cleaning and maintenance markets.  His jovial, friendly and high-adrenalin demonstrations provided an excellent Return On Investment for the products he helped to sell.

If you find this website useful, and you require more sales, why not contact the author directly:

Tel. 0870 042 1263
Email: stephen@sl-freelance.co.uk
www.sl-freelance.co.uk
or read my blog at www.freelancetelemarketing.org.uk