Riley was being trained to sell insurance in the home. His manager sat in the car, coaching the young rep on how to be a guest, while remaining in control of the sales environment.

At the next house, the 50ish woman opened the door and Riley's manager groaned. He was allergic to cats and the feline-infected air slapped the older man in the face like boxer's punch. His eyes started watering as his nose also competed for the attention of his handkerchief.

The sales guys were seated in the living room. Riley took over the conversation, realizing his boss was miserable and getting worse, the longer the call took.

Then the homeowner excused herself to find some papers for the salesmen to review.

And the enemy strutted into the room.

The tan-colored cat seemed to know exactly who she was tormenting. She leapt onto couch and padded her way to the manager. He was sniffling into his hanky and looked up and into the eyes of the cat, six inches from his face.

He shooed the animal away with a wave of his hand. And his huge college ring clipped the cat alongside its head. The pet dropped in his lap, and didn't move.

As he lifted it away from himself, Riley and manager stared at each other. The woman's companion was obviously and completely dead.

The manager did the only honorable thing he could think of in the moment.

He slid the limp body under the couch.

The woman returned and the men took her paperwork and got up to leave, promising a review of her materials and a quote, very soon.

They never did discover the ending to their cat encounter. And the buyer never bought, either.

POSTMORTEM: Obstacles! They clutter our path to selling success. They might be related to our poor products, our poor health or our poor skills. If you could pick one thing to fix or improve right now, in order to better your income, what would that be? Now go and make those adjustments today, and you'll enjoy the raise you will reward yourself.