Check out the latest interviews with Gill E. Wagner.

I’ve been going on sales calls since I was 12 years old, when my dad, a residential remodeling contractor, invited me to tag along. Then one winter when I was 19, I took a position as, of all things, a vacuum cleaner salesman. And on my very first sales call in this new position, I not only sold a vacuum, I launched a four-year sales cycle that finally closed on October 8, 1983, when the woman who bought that vacuum said, “I do.”

Since those early days tagging along with Dad, I’ve spent more than 30 years in the trenches learning how to sell, how to build sales teams and how to foster we-centric thinking, all the while with my mortgage literally on the line. I’ve been the president, partner or CEO of six successful start-up companies, including a residential remodeling company, two information technology firms, a professional copyediting firm, a trade association management firm and Honest Selling, where my specialty is helping company executives increase sales without using sleazeball sales tactics.

I was once told, “If you don’t toot your own horn, someone else will use it as a spittoon.” So I’m proud to report:

- My “Visit the Sage” tips on prospecting, marketing, selling and life are read by thousands.

- The articles I’ve written throughout my many careers have been reprinted in dozens of languages and published in hundreds of papers and corporate newsletters worldwide.

- My first book, “How To Build The [Your Name Here] Sales System,” is on-line, absolutely free. (Although I encourage you to buy a copy, because all proceeds go to charity.)

- The non-profit trade association I founded in 2005 — Yellow-Tie International Business Development Association — is growing and making a difference.

- In May 2008 I was voted by my peers as the “Best Business Connector” in St. Louis.