Monday, May 22, 2006

Sales tales
May '06


Sooner or later I'm going to get around to posting about selling something you love as a fast way to sustainable work.

In my opinion, developing sales for new and helpful products and services is the lowest hanging fruit you'll ever find on your way to your own enterprise and sustainable work.

You've got to do it right and you've got to have some pretty thick skin. I offer this as a reminder that it's still called work. Happened this month.

I was on a call where I was to meet up with a distributor of our stuff at a potential customer's plant. I'd never been there before. Just stopping by to see if I could help our distributor.

The receptionist let me through, and as I opened the door the plant manager looked at me, then looked at my distributor and said, "At least you're not the most hated guy in the plant anymore."

In the peddler biz, we call this a rough start.

I turned down most of the work that this potential customer wanted us to do.

Did we need the work? Hell yes. You'd better never answer no to that question, friend. You'll always need more of the work your sustainable worklife thrives on.

Did we need that specific work? No.

Clearly the circumstances on the ground were troubled and the need for our stuff couldn't be adequately demonstrated to me by anyone involved. All they could say was that they were in some kind of crisis and needed help.

Don't we all?

You've got to get paid for solving problems, not screwed for participating in someone else's emergencies.

Avoid the idiot jobs and run from the kind of customers that create them.

As a peddler doing something you love, you can change the world, while making a better life for yourself, your family and the rest of the planet.

My friend, please understand the value of saying no to the wrong jobs.