MAHONEY’S MOMENTS

May 2026: From Doorbells to Life Lessons

My lessons about boss recognition, incentives, and appreciation came a long time ago before I really understood them. When I was sixteen and spending a summer with relatives in Columbus, I accepted a summer job with Keystone Reader’s Service which employed high school and college students to sell magazines door to door. I cringe now when I think about it but there were dozens of us taken by car in student crews to areas surrounding Columbus. We would be assigned streets to go and up down knocking on doors of homes selling magazines.

We were trained with a selling prompt, taught to answer objections with rebuttals, and to close orders. Even after all these years, I remember the deal. You got to pick five monthly magazines for $.35 cents per week for 60 months. Folks, this was 1967 and the total for your order over the term of the contract was $90. Today, that would be like selling orders of magazines that would cost $900 for the subscription.

Let’s start with incentives. On Monday, the big boss would join all student sellers and their managers for a sales meeting. He would begin by writing down an individual quota that he suggested, and you agreed to based on your sales history and experience. For example, he might assign 8 orders for the week to a newly hired sales associate. For someone with experience and history that number might be 20. The numbers were within your reach with some effort. He would add all the numbers up and then say if we reached the total for the group, then everyone would earn a few extra dollars and if you also hit your individual quota, you got additional money. You had to hit the team quota first which accounted for much student coaching of beginners. No team results—no individual awards.

I was also witnessing “what gets measured, matters” in action. Even after decades I can remember the excitement that existed as you left the office to join your team. The excitement remained until someone screamed at you to get off their porch, a dog tried to bite you, or you found a neighborhood where no one was home. On the other hand, if you quickly sold an order or two your energy and enthusiasm for selling more was contagious. Small victories and momentum mattered then too. At the end of the week, the big boss came back in the sales room, reviewed numbers and paid team goals if earned, individual ones if earned, and if numbers weren’t hit, offered encouragement for the next week and appreciation for efforts. Recognition stemmed from accomplishment and appreciation from effort and contribution. His approaches were motivating to our context.

While extrinsic sales didn’t continue to motivate me, it is a motivator and I saw it firsthand demonstrated effectively when I didn’t know what it was. And recognition. I was the sole Ohio winner of a ten-week contest that summer and joined other winners from Pennsylvania to attend a free trip to the World’s Fair in Montreal, Canada—Expo 67! Life is so opposite of school. Tests first, then lessons. And the older you get, the more lessons you learn.