Dad, do you have any sales tips?

I asked my Dad, do you have any sales tips? He responds – let me tell you a story….

A recent college grad goes to work for his uncle’s toothbrush company. With much excitement, he picks up his first shipment and hits the street. He comes back to the office and his uncle asks, “Hey, how many did you sell?” The nephew replies, “None.” Well, the uncle says, “Get back out there and try again.” The young salesman returns after the second week and the uncle asks (already knowing the answer based on his nephews face) “How many did you sell?” The nephew responds, depressingly, “3.” Listen, “You need to develop some sort of strategy, put yourself in the customer’s shoes.” And so the salesman returns to the field once again – however, following the 3rd week he steps back into the office with a beaming smile. The uncle asks, “How many did you sell?” The nephew quickly responds, “Four thousand.” Astonishingly, the uncle exclaims “How the heck did you do that?” The nephew says, “Well, I went to the football game and set up a big booth that said free chips and dip. When people came by they ate the chips and dip and said ehhh! (Spitting out the dip) That tastes terrible!!”…” I responded, that’s because it is, wanna buy a tooth brush!?”

My dad would close the story by saying. “See, it’s all about creating a need for your customers.”

As funny as this story is, the final line tells us all we need to know. This father, although he may be well-versed in sales and have much experience, tells his son that the key is to create a need for the customer. This comment may have some truth to it, but it isn’t the ethical, or best way to do sales. Ethical sales doesn’t sell something to the customer that they don’t need, ethical sales finds out what the customer needs, then sells it to them to help that need. It isn’t a game of “how fast can I dupe this guy”, its a game of “how fast can I figure out how I can help this guy”.