How Often Should You Be Selling?

I owned a transportation company called Designated Driver for about 15 years. It was a 14 passenger mini bus and as the name implies, our target customers were the bachelor and bachelorette parties, or any other event that could be expected to involve consumption of adult beverages. Because these events were isolated primarily to Friday and Saturday evenings, the transportation service sought to fill the other days with a variety of customers including senior citizen recreation centers.

One year during the lead up to Christmas, the program director of one of my most frequent senior center clients booked my services for their annual staff holiday dinner party. Because I knew the staff fairly well, I decided that I would be the driver so that I could personally wish the team a happy holiday. I arrived to the center at the scheduled time and stationed the vehicle for arriving guests to board. The first individual to approach was a young man that I had never met. By appearances, while he was most likely 18 or older, he could have passed for 15 or 16 years old.

He boarded the vehicle and introduced himself in a professionally confident manner beyond his years, indicating that he was a part time employee of the center’s staff. When I find a young person conducting themselves in such an assertive manner, I always find myself both in admiration and amusement – they have the wit and the words, but have not yet attained the wisdom that provides balance. He immediately took interest in the mini bus, asking questions about every detail – where was it built, what type of fuel, did it require special licensure. While I was impressed by the intuitive questioning, other guests were beginning to arrive and I needed to greet them as they also boarded for the event. I would excuse myself from the conversation, but each time I had a moment between arrivals, the young man would continue the line of questioning from where we had previously left off.

As the arrivals picked up pace, the ongoing conversation was truly beginning to interfere with my professional responsibility to attend to the needs of all of the guests. The half of me that found amusement in the young man’s relentless questioning was turning into a desire to end the game of “Twenty Questions,” – but I chose to avoid that conclusion. Instead, the half of me that admired this inquisitiveness continued to respond to every inquiry in the professional manner in which they were presented until the young man was satisfied that he had learned enough.

He concluded his part in the conversation indicating that he also worked part time at the Warren Tech Center - a location which is owned by a major automotive corporation and covers more than one square mile – it is a city within a city and has all of the infrastructure to match. He added that his employer was in charge of the shuttle service for the campus, and he couldn’t wait to tell him about this service, because he thought it would be perfect for when they needed additional transportation support. I thanked him for the consideration, but mentally filed his observation into the “Ain’t Never Gonna Happen Folder,” and continued with the event.

A couple of months later I received a call from an individual that was responsible for the shuttle operations at the Warren Tech Center, indicating that he had been referred to me by one of his part time staff that assisted with basic operational and light administrative duties. He needed some urgent support in that several of his shuttles had been taken out of service and this young man had spoken so glowingly of our service as a solution. This engagement ultimately became one of the largest and most profitable contracts that our company ever received.

The first takeaway from this post is that as a business owner you are always selling 24/7/365. Some people are born with the drive to sell. These individuals love the competition and seem to thrive on rejection; no means yes, it is not a matter of “if” but only “how soon” they will get a successful sale. But for many, if not most of us, selling is right up there with public speaking, which generates as much fear as the idea of being eaten by sharks.

So, if as a business owner you must perpetually sell to succeed, but you fear selling as you would death, how do you bridge this paradox? I suggest changing your definition of selling. When I arrive to a meeting timely, I’m not selling my product or service, I’m selling dependability. When I smile and greet a stranger, I’m selling courteousness and social grace. When I come home and hug my family I’m selling the affirmation that they are the most important component of my life. By embracing that every human contact you encounter is a sales opportunity and it is truly intended to benefit both parties equally, not only will the sales dollars flow, but also will the items that are of much greater value - it’s a win, win!

There is an old saying that, “The character of an individual can be measured by how they treat individuals who can do nothing for them in return.” This is the second take away and is one of the most important secrets to selling. That woman at the lake floating in an inflated raft wearing cutoff jeans, a mismatched top, with a glob of sun screen on her nose may be an assembly line worker, or she may be the CEO of a fortune 500 company. The receptionist that greeted you when you arrived also opens and prioritizes the mail and knows that the decision maker wants the most important items at the top and the junk mail at the bottom. This person decides where your follow-up letter gets placed. The janitor may be the nephew of the boss earning his way thru college. The manager that hired your company may have the same admiration (and trust), of the kid who talked your ear off. Treating everyone you meet with the same level of respect due them as a fellow human traveler vs. their perceived status has an immediate positive payback and you deserve it!

Categories: : Sales