Joe Miller is a high school senior and the quarterback of his football team. Last season Joe led the team in a record-setting winning streak. This spring Joe is lined up to assume the title of valedictorian. Every weekend Joe throws a party for the guys at his parent’s mini mansion while they’re out-of-state on a business trip. Joe’s a good-looking guy with a truck. Everybody knows Joe. Everybody wants to be Joe. To those outside of the “in” crowd, Joe is untouchable.
Joe has a friend named Paul. Paul has been to every one of Joe’s games, cheering him on with the rest of his buddies in the student section. Paul, a math major at the local community college, helped Joe with his homework when he got a concussion the season before. One weekend, Joe wrecked his parent’s Maserati DUI. Paul straightened things out with the authorities and accompanied Joe when he went to talk to his folks.
Last Friday afternoon, Paul called Joe up. He invited Joe to a thing he called “club,” and told Joe that it would be “the most fun you can have in an hour.” Joe had no idea what Paul was talking about, but he went. Joe was surprised to find a number of his friends there, and even more surprised to find that “club” meant loud singing, crazy games, and guys dressed like goofy characters making fools of themselves. Toward the end of club, Paul stood up with a book in his hand to speak. He started talking about a guy named “Jesus” and how he helped people. Paul said that the greatest act of Jesus was his death on a cross, and that this death saves us from our sins. Joe didn’t understand all that Paul was saying, but he sat there, eyes fixed on Paul, listening to every word.
Professor Sweet spoke to us toward the beginning of class about his experience in ministry and how it translated well to a career in sales. He recognized that as a pastor, he had to sell the gospel to his flock. He was what Pink would call a “non-sales” salesperson.
My dad has been an Area Director for Young Life — a non-profit youth ministry started in 1941 — coming on twenty years now. There is a lot of “non-sales selling” taking place in Young Life. A favorite catchphrase among Young Life staff is “earn the right to be heard.” This slogan has sales at its core, and the principles behind it are modeled after the ministry of Christ.
Jesus — the God of the universe — came in the flesh, lived alongside of us, and went around healing the hurt among us. He didn’t sit in heaven waiting for us to come to him, but he met us where we were at. When he went to the cross to speak his message in action, we paid attention. So too, “leaders” in Young Life are trained to go to the high schools, share their lives with kids, and care for them. When it comes to sharing the good news with them, they listen, because their leaders have “earned the right to be heard” by meeting them where they’re at.
Before you give your next sales pitch, remember Joe and his Young Life leader Paul. Make it a practice to develop the relationship and trust necessary to have a say in your potential customer’s life. Earn the right to be heard.
testacr22
Great connection between sales and ministry. This really reinforces the concept of non-sales people being involved in sales. I think that sometimes we forget that the most important sales process we can be a part of is the sharing of the gospel with those around us. What can you sell the person who has everything? The one thing they cannot buy, the gift that is free. I also appreciated the “earn the right to be heard” quote, and will remember that as I engage in the sales process with different individuals.
I like the discussion of earning the right to be heard. definittely true in typical sales roles and even more so in non-sales selling, where you might not have a big company name to back you up and add credibility.