Want to Win at Sales? Just Be a Gopher!


win at sales cartoon

One of the things that drives me nuts most in the business world is this glut of acronyms. Okay, some make sense. But there’s an awful lot of blatantly manufactured acronyms out there (I’m looking at you, self-help business books) that just make me insane.

I see a lot of stuff like, “To win at sales you need to be a G.O.P.H.E.R.!”

  • G – Go get ’em!
  • O – Only give your best!
  • P – Partner with people who can help!
  • H – Help people who need it!
  • E – Early to bed, early to rise…
  • R – Ready to succeed?! GO!

So animals are not your thing? How about C.O.F.F.E.E.:

  • C – Come to work!
  • O – Offer your expertise!
  • F – Free yourself from negative thoughts!
  • F – Focus on the task at hand!
  • E – Examine your goals!
  • E – Everything is awesome! Be positive!

Honestly, I could do this all day. Thankfully, we cartoonists get to poke fun at this sort of thing, both as a profession and a form of therapy.

Okay, now who’s ready to get some COFFEE for their GOPHER?

6 Comments ▼

Mark Anderson Mark Anderson's cartoons appear in publications including Forbes, The Wall Street Journal and Harvard Business Review. His business cartoons are available for licensing at his website, Andertoons.com.

6 Reactions
  1. It’s the nature of the beast, Mark…or should I say N.O.T.B. :).

    Maybe there should be an I.D.N.A: International Day of No Acronyms. How about that? 🙂 (and everytime someone’s spotted using one, they pay a fine, the proceeds of which go to a charity.)

  2. Haha! And they don’t just do it for concepts. They do it for places, actions and strategies. Heck, if they can come up with acronyms for names, they’d do it.

    • I bet there are acronyms for acronyms too! It gets to a point where it actually gets quite adorable when someone’s REALLY into the whole acronym thing. Or maybe it’s just me. Yeah, probably :).

      • Haha they can really get carried away. They might as well call each other in acronyms.

      • (chuckle!) Oh gosh, don’t put that idea in my head. Don’t tempt me to acronymise your name. Please. 🙂 | You seem like a nice person. Don’t make me do it, OK? *blink, blink*