Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, May 24, 1994 TAG: 9405240054
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: C8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RUSTY DENNEN THE FREE LANCE-STAR
DATELINE: STAFFORD LENGTH: Medium
In their own ways, say Gerhard and Laura Gschwandtner, they are salespeople of uncanny ability.
The Gschwandtners (pronounced shwantner), who live in Stafford County near Fredericksburg, publish Personal Selling Power magazine, the nation's largest business-specialty journal for people who sell for a living.
Over the years, Personal Selling Power has methodically clawed its way to the top of the heap in a competitive industry, with a formula that has worked well: a dash of celebrity, some fundamentals and a dollop of how-to tips ranging from dressing to rating the latest sales-motivitation seminars.
Editor Laura Gschwandtner interviewed Cleese, one of the ringmasters of Monty Python's Flying Circus, for a story a few years back.
"He's very tall, about 65, professional, bright, incisive," she said recently at the company's headquarters.
Cleese, an Englishman, talked about his work in the irreverent Python troupe, his TV series, "Fawlty Towers," and the movie "A Fish Called Wanda."
With each project, she said, he went beyond just doing his homework.
"He worked on Fawlty Towers scripts for a year and a half" before they aired, she said.
The point: People in sales can learn plenty from actors - how to look good, how to be persuasive, and Cleese's specialty, body language.
The magazine's 1989 cover story on Cleese includes a memorable series of still photos showing him dealing with hypothetical obstacles a sales person might encounter on any call with a client.
The May/June issue also deals with actors. There's an Oscar statuette on the cover, and inside, profiles on Jack Lemmon, Marlon Brando, Michelle Pfeiffer and Daryl Hannah and how they sell themselves.
There's also an interview Gerhard Gschwandtner did with Schwarzkopf; a profile on Lillian Vernon, architect of the mail-order empire; and the results of the magazine's survey on telemarketing.
You won't find stories on corporate shenanigans or exposes on the seamy side of sales.
"We're really in the business of helping people improve. ... We don't want to publish anything that is not received in a positive way," said Gerhard Gschwandtner, 51, the publisher and business manager.
Laura Gschwandtner, 48, added, "We've created something that's easy, fun to read. People call to say, `I'm not in sales, but when I finish reading, I feel good that I can do things.'''
Along with the cover story, each issue is divided into three sections focusing on knowledge, skills and motivation. The magazine also has reader fax-in polls, home-grown contests and fan letters.
Personal Selling Power is distributed to several hundred salespeople who work for the home products company's 90 franchises in the U.S.
Fred Wittlinger, chairman and president of United Consumers Club in Merrillville, Ind., has been a corporate subscriber for years.
The magazine is unlike others on the market, Wittlinger said, "because there's not so much theory and hype [on] promoting and selling items. It focuses on hands-on philosophy, skills and understanding what sales really is.
"They're usually right on, and it's basically fundamentals."
The competition is intense: There are half a dozen publications aiming for much the same audience.
In terms of numbers, Personal Selling Power is the largest, with 83,000 audited paid circulation per issue; 74,000 copies are distributed free.
The magazine began as an idea in 1978. Gerhard Gschwandtner, an Austrian native who was working as a sales manager for a construction equipment firm when the company closed. He decided to branch out on his own, instructing others how to sell.
By 1981, Gerhard Gschwandtner Associates' newsletter began drawing paid subscribers.
Circulation grew, color and graphics were added, and in 1989, the publication switched to its present format.
by CNB