If you listened to my interview on Meet the Sales Experts, you heard me say that I dabbled in sales as a teenager, but my career in sales actually started in 1973. Yesterday, I was listening to Mike Volpe make a point about Engagement Marketing and I started thinking about some of the differences between selling in 1973 and selling in 2009.

We used to work door to door. I remember one day starting at #1, knocking on every door until the person at #183 let me in. It was one of the easiest sales in my life, but it was hard getting through all those doors.

I've already told the story of starting my business. 30 cold calls from a telephone directory every weekday morning for months.

Nowadays, companies are doing lead generation for their salespeople. We do social networking and inbound marketing. We talk about providing content to engage.

We also have very active chambers of commerce. There's something to do every morning and evening. There are so many BNI and other referral group meetings that you could visit one every day for months without visiting the same one twice.

So, I was thinking. "Is it easier today than it was back then?" I'll tell you that door to door and cold calls are a tough way to go, but once you got through was it easier? Today, it seems like it might be less painful to get in front of a prospect, but once you get there, "Is it more difficult to do business?" Can you handled an informed prospect? Can you handle a prospect that has options?