Sales and the Birch Tree

A few weeks ago in England, I met a charming lad from Germany. We got to talking and it was evident that he adored his home country. He began to tell the story of the annual May Day celebrations in his community. It went something like this.

“Every year on the first day of May there is a huge celebration for spring. There is a fifty foot tall tree placed in the center of the town. All of the branches are striped except for the very top, which is decorated with all sorts of things! It is a huge deal. They even have people to guard the tree so pranksters don’t cut it down! Now along with this, there is a special romantic tradition. If there is a girl you love, you give her her own May Day tree.  We usually use those white birch trees because they look the best. Around March, you begin to look for a nice tree when you ride your bike. You may see one way up on a mountain, and climb all the way up the mountain only to realize the tree is no good because it is crooked. You might need to trespass onto other people’s property to find a good tree. Sometimes people will even steal a tree if it is a very nice and straight one. (I may have done that.) Then once you find a tree, you need to cut it down and carry it somewhere no one will find you. Of course, these trees are twenty-some feet tall, so you can imagine how difficult it is to drive with that on top of your car and be unseen! Sometimes police will escort you to help you get where you need to go. Once you have the tree, you prepare it and strip all the branches except for the very top. Then you decorate it will all kinds of ribbon. You can use lots of different colors to make it bright or all white to make it pure. Whatever you want! When the tree is ready, you wait until everyone is asleep the first night of May. Then you get all your mates to come and help you plant the tree in her front yard! You need shovels, cause you need to dig a very big hole. Sometimes it needs to be deeper, or wider. Once I had to use a pulley system to get the tree straight. It took four of us men to do it! You need to put your love’s name on it, in case there are two girls in the house so they know who it is for. And then the next day, she wakes up, and there is a tree! A huge, decorated tree, right outside her window! And she knows that someone loves her.”

We have been discussing a lot in class how dating and sales are related. Is it an effective technique? Apparently. But context is key. Did you wake up this morning wishing for a birch tree outside your window? No. This probably wouldn’t be very effective if it was done here (except maybe now for any women reading this post). But somewhere in Germany, there is a young lady counting down the days until she finds out if there is a man who fancies her enough to steal her a tree. The important thing to note is that there are all different types of pain. And where you may expect the solution to be a simple box of chocolates- if you don’t understand the true pain of your prospect, the deal isn’t going anywhere. Only by asking questions to find the real need will set you on the right track. And even once you know what the prospect needs, you need to be prepared to take the necessary steps. You may need to climb a few mountains, get a few police escorts, and recruit a few mates to build a pulley system. But none of that matters if you don’t first have an understanding of what the prospect wants.

So salesmen (and gentlemen), make sure you have a real understanding of your prospects needs. Once that is done, you can feel free to plant the biggest birch you want.