tomatoes and such succulent peppers. And you know

what I tell them?”

“What’s that?” Gardener asked.

“That I had so much fun growing them, I hardly

noticed how hard it was.”

Gardener let a moment pass for that point to res-

onate. “So imagine if we could translate that breath-

taking vision you have of your real garden to your

sales garden. What would we have, then?”

It was like one of those cartoons Marsha used to

watch as a child, where a lightbulb popped on over

someone’s head when he got an idea. “Oh, yeahhh,”

she said, “my sales territory.” She bit her lip and

mused for a moment. “Let’s try this: friendly, accessi-

ble customers who return my calls in ten minutes.

Customers who buy 100 percent of their medical sup-

plies from me and me alone.”

Gardener shook his head. “I said ‘vision,’ not ‘nir-

vana.’ Having perfect customers would be a little like

taking your seeds in April, blindly scattering them to

the four winds, and having everything come out per-

fect with no work or thought from you. How realistic

is that?”

31

Planning a Sales Garden