What Camp Ministry Taught Me About Selling

     This past summer, I worked as a camp counselor for Ligonier Camp in southwestern Pennsylvania. If I’m being quite honest it was one of the hardest experiences that I’ve ever had to go through (having to go home early due to illness didn’t help either!) But it was also very rewarding, not only spiritually, but in strengthening skills typically associated with sales. While most wouldn’t think of being a camp counselor as being a salesman, deep down that’s what the job basically is!

     Each day when I woke up in my cabin, my goal was to sell my campers. Ligonier was a Christian camp, and I would argue that any form of ministry is a form of sales, but the extent of my selling didn’t end there! I had to sell my kids on why following the camp rules kept them safe, on why doing team-building exercises was important, on why they should put sunscreen and bug spray on before going to the lake (among many other things.) It certainly wasn’t easy either, especially with a bunch of middle school guys, but it taught me that the most important rule of selling is to treat the prospect like any other human being. 

     This might sound a little obvious, but it amazed me just how far a simple shift in mindset went! Just by giving my campers the same respect that I would extend anyone else led them to have a better time at camp. Were there obviously exceptions to the rule? Yes, some campers won’t listen to you no matter how you would treat them, but this is where my ambiversion came into play, knowing when to shut up and let the campers have fun and when to step in. Being a camp counselor taught me to view prospects not a some object to be sold to, but as a fellow human being who just needs a problem that they have solved. I believe that once a salesperson can do this, they can sell almost anything.