Sales in the Start-Up and my Smaller Scales

So far, Sales in the Start-Up has shifted my mindset from knowing small sales roles to a broader vision of all that sales truly encapsulates.
Due to this class’s reflective nature, I’ve spent a lot of time in it considering how true every sales lesson is in real life. Professor Sweet has articulated all of the things I’ve seen in the small business world of my little hometown. I have only ever worked in a few simple, non-sales defined roles. Two of these jobs were on my main street, one selling ice cream, and another Brazilian cuisine. I recognize, now especially, that I was not simply selling the sweets and lunches and coffees these shops had to offer. Instead, I was selling the experience of enjoying dessert on a Friday night. Or the slightly greater expenditure of spending a little bit extra on a kid’s waffle cone. At the cafe, Brazilian Table, I was selling cultural newness, people and food and drinks the locals have never tasted.

I don’t think I ever specifically defined these jobs as sales because the people came to me. Usually, customers come to an ice cream shop with the intentions of buying ice cream or another offered dessert. I learned at Brazilian table, though, that people almost never came for the food, at least not at first. What got someone into the store was either a previous customer’s recommendation or the prettiness of the shop from the street. It was my job, then, to portray the arrangement of offers in a way that gave them whatever they were looking for. Or in sales terms, solved their problem. This usually meant asking straight up what they were looking for, something savory or something sweet. This is a strategic line my manager trained me in. It answered quickly whether they were looking for a little dessert or a snack or a meal. It also opened the door for me to make a favorable recommendation. I see the additional genius behind this question because it is careful not to shut the door on any unarticulated desires. Someone could be coming in just wanting to see what sorts of coffees we had, but once they see the window of cakes and hear me pitch them, they might remember how big of a sweet tooth they have.

I learned the art of reading people in this role. Listening to a customer had to be the most important thing I did so that I could well define and then meet their need. Never before this class had I really articulated my jobs as sales. Defining sales, though, made me realize that I have been doing them for a long time.