A small business owner was in trouble. She decided to call in an expert sales consultant to give her an outsider’s viewpoint. After she had gone over her plans and problems, the business owner took the consultant to a map on the wall where she had stuck brightly colored pins where she had a salesperson.

“Now,” she asked, “for a starter, what is the first thing we should do?”

“Well,” replied the consultant, “the first thing is to take those pins out of the map and stick them in the salespeople.”

Ouch! This business owner never learned the basic lesson: It’s not how many salespeople you have, it’s how many sales your people make.

At MackayMitchell Envelope Company, we have a formal sales force, but I live by the motto that every employee we have is in sales. They all represent our company and impact our customers.

Sales is the lifeblood of all business. There are no companies unless someone brings in the business. So, short of sticking pins in them, how do you fire up your salespeople?

One of the most effective incentives I’ve used over the years is crisp, crunchy, crackly, cold, hard cash. Money remains a prime motivator, but there are many others.

Recognition promotes results. At MackayMitchell Envelope Company, we recognize our employees with tickets for sporting events, theater, symphony concerts and dinners. We like to celebrate our employees’ accomplishments.

I make a point of recognizing people in front of their peers. Why not give others something to strive for and show them how you value good performance? Ever meet a person who didn’t like recognition? No way.

Promote successes. We have a large bell at our company, and any time we get a big order, our sales reps can’t wait to ring it loud and proud. People come out of their offices and want to know about the sale and get excited to match or better it.

Another key ingredient in motivating a sales force is learning how people want to be managed. No two people are alike. You need to get in the face of some people and give a lot of slack to others. Some like to be challenged; others are self-starters. Get in the trenches and learn more about your team’s skills.

Continue to train and educate your sales team. You don’t learn everything in school -- you learn all your life. I’m a big believer in continuous education. If one of our people learns a new sales technique, we ask them to share it with the team so we can all benefit.

We’re always brainstorming and experimenting. Sometimes things don’t work out, and sometimes they do. You can’t punish people for making mistakes, as long as they don’t make the same mistake three times.

Finally, you must allow your sales force to focus on selling. Let them do what they do best and help them in any way possible with great marketing materials. Lighten their load by requiring them to fill out fewer reports or work flexible schedules to meet their customers’ needs.

Columnist Ben Holden tells the story of a newly hired traveling salesman named Gooch who wrote his first report to the home office. It stunned the brass in the sales department because it was obvious the new man was illiterate. He wrote:

Dear Bos: I have seen this outfit which ain’t never bot a dimes worth of nothing from us, and I sole them a couple hunerd thousand dollars of guds. I am now going to Chicawgo.”

Before Gooch could be given the heave-ho by the sales manager, this letter came from Chicago: “I cum hear and sole them haff a millyon.”

Fearful what would happen if he did or did not fire the Gooch, the sales manager dumped the problem on the president. The following morning, both letters were posted on the bulletin board with the following memo from the president:

“To All Salespeople: We ben spending two much time trying to spel instead of trying to sel. Let’s watch those sails. I want everybody shud reed these leters from Gooch, who is on the rode doin a grate job for us, and you shud go out and do like he done.”

Mackay’s Moral: Do a sales job on your sales force to promote stellar sales.

It is no secret that I love to play golf. And it’s no secret that I have conducted a lot of business on the golf course. Perhaps the worst-kept secret of all is that I have learned a lot during rounds of golf, particularly during a very memorable recent game.

My golf partner last week was the very delightful Harold Smith, who with his brother-in-law, Don Mains, co-owned a chain of 65 Tradehome Shoes stores throughout the Upper Midwest. He’s been retired for some time now, and plays golf whenever he can.

A friend suggested I invite him to join me for nine holes, and he happily accepted. On the first hole, Harold two-putted from 70 feet. On the second hole, he got down in two from off the green. I won’t bore you with the rest of the scorecard; suffice it to say, it was a great game that I will likely never forget.

Did I mention that he is 100 years old?

Harold expressed his gratitude for the invitation, because as he told me, all his friends have died. Our conversation exposed many commonalities: our alma mater (University of Minnesota), our love for sports and many friends in common. But I was particularly interested in his business philosophy, which we also share.

The Tradehome business model is rooted in customer service and employee recognition. Their business grew at a rate of two to three stores a year. They made sure stores were performing well before expanding further. They took their time to hire the best people for each store.

Each store had five to 10 employees who had the opportunity to work their way up. Store managers concentrated on promoting from within, never going outside to hire. In the small cities where they were located, the store managers got to know the local kids so that they knew whom to hire.

An employee profit-sharing plan was started in 1955. Some employees had as much as $800,000 in their plans when they retired. Harold said the plan was a great way to retain employees.

Customer service is a hallmark of Tradehome stores. No one likes to be ignored, he said, so he told employees to focus on everyone who walked into their stores within seconds. He and his brother-in-law worked hard to stay ahead of their customers, understanding that they needed to watch the trends on the coasts that would make it to the Midwest.

They considered themselves creative marketers, offering services such as polishing customers’ shoes when they walked into the stores. They offered a liberal return policy with no questions asked. They would exchange shoes purchased from a competitor, noting that people would forget where they bought them. That didn’t matter, they reasoned, because customers would come to their stores to buy because of their service and price.

When it was time to retire in 1999, they didn’t want to sell to a conglomerate that would fire many of the employees. Instead, they sold the company to nine key employees at a much lower price to make sure they wouldn’t have to lay off people. Loyalty to Smith and Mains was foremost.

But life wasn’t all business. Family, faith and sharing their wealth were also priorities.

Harold and his late wife, Mickey, loved to travel and were especially interested in visiting places of Jewish interest. They collected Jewish artifacts from all over the world, including antique Hebrew Bibles and Torahs.

Eventually, through a friend, they connected with the renowned Minneapolis Institute of Art. The director expressed interest in their collection and his desire to establish a Judaic gallery. He also explained the funding that it would require. That meeting led to the couple donating much of their collection and the funding to support the Harold and Mickey Smith Gallery of Jewish Art and Culture. The gallery is one of only two of its kind in the country.

We covered a lot of ground that day, and not just on the golf course. You could say the game was simply a delivery method for this wealth of information. And Harold saved his best gems of wisdom for last: his secrets for a long life!

-- Positive attitude toward life.

-- Have good genes.

-- Don’t abuse your body.

-- Always eat healthy.

-- Exercise often.

-- Get plenty of sleep ... don’t cheat on sleep.

-- Keep your mind active and stress down.

-- You have to be lucky.

Mackay’s Moral: When you have the chance to golf with a centenarian, the score isn’t as important as the lessons learned.

Pete walked into his boss’s office. “Ms. Smith, I’ll be straight with you. I know the economy isn’t great, but I have three companies after me, and I would like to respectfully ask for a raise.”

After a few minutes of haggling, Ms. Smith finally agreed to a 5 percent boost. When Pete got up to leave, she asked him, “By the way, which three companies are after you?”

“The electric company, the mortgage company and the phone company.”

We all have bills to pay. Our jobs are a good way to accomplish that. But if you feel like you aren’t receiving what you deserve, you have to muster up your courage and ask for a raise. That is a conversation you need to have with your supervisor, not your co-workers. They don’t make those decisions, and you will get a reputation for being the complainer.

Instead, prove you can perform the duties of your position and work your tail off making sure you’re the best hire your boss ever made. Then it’s time to ask for a raise. Here are some tips that will give you at least a fighting chance:

-- Pick your time carefully. When you asked your mom or dad for the car keys, did you hit them up when they walked in the door or wait until after they had dinner and were in a good mood? Timing is everything.

-- Be prepared. Almost everyone has an annual salary and/or performance review. But it’s amazing how few people prepare for it. Get your act together and present your case in an intelligent, well-organized manner.

-- Keep records. Keep a log of your accomplishments. Make notes in your daily calendar. That way, you won't forget anything, and you'll have the most reliable form of proof there is: written evidence.

-- Know the territory. One of the typical defenses against wage demands is, “You certainly deserve it, but we had a difficult year.” Is this true? If you work for a public company, check out the annual report. What are people at other companies getting paid for your job?

-- Ask for a specific number. This is the hardest one of all, because people are uncomfortable selling themselves. Put a number on the table, and make it realistic. Document overtime or special circumstances as evidence.

-- Don't threaten. Don't bluff. Don't be afraid to ask.

What happens if asking for a raise doesn’t work? Your short-term tactics may have failed, but your long-term strategy could still succeed. First, ask what it would take to get that raise next time. Other things that can help include:

1. Working longer hours, not shorter. Hours in new areas. Hours that give you more responsibility and greater challenges.

2. Training. You want the opportunity to improve your skills and learn new ones. Ask about the chance to attend a seminar or convention, or take some classes.

3. Hitting the mark. You want to know what requirements you must meet to hit your salary goals. Then ask for another salary review ahead of the normal schedule to chart your progress.

4. Career planning. Are your career goals realistic? Ask. Then also ask your boss for a long-term career path for you and a reasonable timetable for achieving it.

5. Making the move. Will management give you strong support in helping place you in another department where your salary requirements and career goals can be met?

The idea here is to get you ahead of the pack, away from the normal processes that the company follows to evaluate salaries. You want to be in the fast-track category. You’ve designed your own program.

Robert Herjavec from ABC's “Shark Tank” said: “You should never come out and say I deserve more money. Nobody cares what you deserve. It's about what you can do for the company. It's never I, I, I ... it's always what value you can add. Don't use the word I.”

Barbara Corcoran, also from “Shark Tank,” advises: “You've got to remember that asking for a raise is a sales job. It's how well-prepared you are, how you list your responsibilities. You should even have a category called ‘above and beyond’ on responsibilities and make sure the boss knows every little thing you're doing above and beyond. You know what -- you've got to sell! It's about selling.”

Mackay's Moral: If you want them to show you the money, you better show them the reason.