The More You Tell, The More You Sell!
I’ll never forget my first job out of college. I moved the day after I graduated to be with my then, fiance, from a small conservative college town in Minnesota to Detroit…of all places. There I was—no friends, no family, no more college parties, and NO JOB! I was in total culture shock! I knew I had to find a job immediately, so I began sending out resumes left and right. It took awhile, but I eventually found a job working as an Advertising Sales Representative for a company that published several local suburban newspapers in the Detroit area.
My first days at the company were spent with the owner, Gil, going door to door from one business to another business. We’d stop by, bring them the current issue of the paper, and find out if they’d be interested in running an ad in the next issue. Those first days to me, seemed like they were never ending. We just kept going to more and more businesses, well into the evening. Our last stop was either a restaurant, or bar, where Gil and I would finally sit down. He would then start his famous speech, which always began with, “You know Barb, ‘The More You Tell, The More You sell!’ You’ve got to keep beating on those doors, because eventually someone will say yes.”
And so it began…I found myself walking the streets of those Detroit suburbs, pounding on doors from one business to the next, day in and day out. I thought it was grueling and never imagined myself to be doing such a thing, but then something happened. The company was having a sales contest, which I never really paid much attention to. I didn’t even think I was in the running, but funny thing, I won! I couldn’t believe it. Turns out, that Gil was right. I really wasn’t doing anything special. I certainly wasn’t an aggressive seller. I was, however, persistant and beat on a lot of doors.
I recently read, “Prioritize or Perish”, an article found in the June 2007 issue of Selling Power magazine, that reminded me of this story and my sales experience. The article referenced Martin Papper, Vice President of Sales at C&S Distributors, a wholesale building distributor, who admitted to being very obnoxious when it came to setting priorities for his sales rep’s. He apparently, on a frequent basis, leaves a 3-Part voice mail for each sales rep saying: “Make the calls, make the calls, make the calls.”
- The first reference is to make calls to get new accounts.
- The second reference is to make calls to keep receivables under control.
- The second reference is to make calls to stay in touch with inactive and active accounts.
Apparently, this mantra works for him and his reps, just as Gil’s mantra, “The more you tell, the more you sell,” worked for me and others.
How are you keeping your Sales Rep’s active?
Thanks for reading!
Barb
Posted in Business, Company, Marketing, Uncategorized on June 22nd, 2007 by Barb | | 2 Comments
on June 22nd, 2007 at 11:04 pm
Wow… joining up to become a sales rep is crazy, especially since you went through all the things you did. It seems like you got a lot of help from the experience you went through.
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on June 25th, 2007 at 12:44 pm
It definitely showed me that hard work can pay off and to always keep my eyes open for leads. I still to this day pass leads to our sales reps from cars, or trucks I see driving down the road, display ads I see in various publications, etc. You never know if that company may need someone to do their granite.
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