My experience selling Christmas trees.

My first sales-selling experience, was in my Boy Scouts troop, selling Christmas trees. I didn’t really know much about selling at the time, but I started to get better after helping a few customers. The process was relatively simple. We were supposed to ask how tall they wanted their tree to be, then lead them to the area where we had that height and let them decide which tree to choose. The fact that we offered them a choice, made them feel more comfortable purchasing from us, because it did not feel like we were pushing anything on them. It also helped that we asked them what they were looking for, before leading them to a random part of the lot. We also did provide other services. For example, if someone needed to purchase a stand for their tree, or even if they already had a stand, we would attach it for free, so that it would be straight and secure, when they went to set it up in their homes. This service, always made our customers happy, because they knew that they were getting more than they would anywhere else they went, for the same, or even better prices. Customers also felt better purchasing from us, because they were supporting our scout troop. People tend to be more willing to purchase items if they know it is supporting a cause, group, or organization. Finally, my linguistic flexibility helped, because occasionally there would be a Hispanic family that entered the lot. If I noticed that they were having difficulty expressing what they wanted in English, I was able to speak to them in Spanish to facilitate the process. This is something that not many people are able to do, but I could really tell that the families were very appreciative of my flexibility, and helping them get what they needed, by bridging that language barrier.