Nothing Happens Until Somebody Sells Something

I have to go back to the early days when I was a little kid.  I think the first selling experience for me was when I was a Cub Scout.  We had a Scout Christmas Tree Lot and we were supposed to sell coupons for $1 off any tree they bought at our lot.  The coupons were $1.  Imagine the selling presentation required to sell something that really has no value.  A buyer would ask… “What am I getting for this dollar?”  Answer: You get a dollar off the price of the tree.  “ And I have to buy the tree at your lot?” Answer:  Yes. “ What if I don’t like the trees at your lot?”  Answer:  UH.  “ Why shouldn’t I just go to your lot and find a tree without your tree coupon?” Answer:  UH. “ What actual benefit do I get for buying your coupon?” Answer:  You get a $1 off the tree you buy at my tree lot. “What if I go to your tree lot and buy a tree but forgot my coupon?”  Answer:  UH. You can begin to see the obvious flaws in this offering.  The buyer has to make a decision… do I help this kid who is clueless?  Should I take pity on him for being sent out on this asinine task and buy one of his coupons or do I send him on his way to present this cockamamie scenario to other people? Bottom line, I actually sold some of these coupons every year.  Selling is ultimately a numbers game.  Regardless of the product or the presentation, if you ask enough people, you will eventually make a sale.  I was literally going door to door and repeating this sales presentation over and over.  I was persistent and was one of the most successful cub scouts in this endeavor.

My next real selling situation was selling a product called SWIPE.  It was an all-purpose cleaner.  You could clean almost anything with this product.  It really was something.  I believed in the product and the promotional statement around the product was “I Like Swipe”.  I sold a lot of this stuff and again it was door to door selling.  I did have to do some demonstrations for the customers to show how well it cleaned things.  It was interesting… my parents were fielding calls for SWIPE years after I left home.  I guess that product was pretty good.

The last serious selling that I did in the early years  was during college.  As a member of the golf team, I was allowed to sell programs at every football and basketball game.  I would earn a few cents off each program I sold and the university would keep track and I could use that money to buy golf equipment.  I didn’t miss a game and earned a lot of money over the years selling those programs.  One last note.   I had a great role model for sales.  My mother was an Avon Representative and a very successful one.  She sold Avon for years and won many awards for her sales in Wichita.  My dad helped her and she was a firm believer in samples.  I think she had every unique Avon bottle ever made.  She ordered them all and used them to help sell the Avon products.  She didn’t know it at the time but she was showing me how to sell things successfully.  I learned a lot about selling from my mom.