Last night I was driving home from the gym and I realized I needed gas. It's a 10-minute drive that I make several times every week, so much that it becomes routine and sometimes I don't even remember driving it. I passed 5 gas stations before I finally stopped at the one right around the corner from where I live. When I passed the 3rd gas station, which is newer, nicer looking, bigger, cleaner, and cheaper than the one near my house, I actually had a noticeable urge to go to the place near home instead; the same one I go to just about every time I need gas, a bottle of water, newspaper, pack of gum, etc. The wheels in my head started turning. "Why," I thought to myself, "would I not just stop at the nice one?"
2 Reasons:
First - Habit. Just like everyone else, I tend to do things that I already do on a regular basis. We program ourselves to repeat behavior without having to think about it.
Second - Social Anxiety. Okay, so maybe that’s a little bit of a stretch. But the fact is that I would rather go somewhere that I’m comfortable, with faces I’ve seen before. The girl that usually works the register at the gas station near home isn’t particularly nice or efficient, and definitely doesn’t give me anything for free, but my natural inclination is to deal with someone I already know.
This week I am scheduled to start calling on contractors in our territory to try to establish relationships and promote new business. I’ve been thinking about all the sales tactics I know; choosing my words wisely, offering choices, asking questions, finding the decision maker, and so on. I've been focusing on all the things that are taught and detailed so often in sales meetings and publications. I have been a little stressed hoping that I know enough about our product and company to be able to answer technical questions that my customers may ask and look confident enough to be trusted.
But last night I had a small epiphany.
My customers are just like me. They will inevitably do the same things over and over again and will deal with someone whose face they recognize if they have the chance.
Even without employing any of the basic sales techniques, I will get some business if I just continually put myself in front of my customer. What that means to me is that I should call on them regularly. Even if they tell me that they don’t need my service, that they already have somebody, that my prices are too high, I need to make myself the gas station that they always go to. Eventually they will place an order and they will feel comfortable doing so because they are comfortable with me. Once they have placed the order though, the job changes; I stop constructing and start maintaining. I’ll get into that on another day.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Thursday, April 3, 2008
So I'm Going to Start in a Week
Yesterday, I left my day job early and I went to the Bluegreen office here in Charleston. I sat down with a recruiter and filled out an application for employment. I handed the recruiter a resume, but I don't think it mattered. She explained what the job is like and asked if I would be interested. I said yes and signed up for training a week from today.
It looks like I'll be selling 3-day, 2-night timeshare packages to people at sporting events here in town. I get people to sign up for a weekend getaway at one of Bluegreen's resorts for less than $50. Not bad. The only stipulation is that they have to take one of the 90-minute sales presentation tours once they are there. I think I can handle this. I have taken several of the tours and they're not so bad overall. I thought the Bluegreen presentation was pleasant. And, really, how hard can it be to sell 3 days in a resort-style hotel for 50 bucks?! You can't get a decent room for one night for less than $80 in most vacation spots. I would do it. In fact, I have done it! And I was quite satisfied.
As usual, I just hope it pays well. I love making a sale, having a happy customer, and knowing that I just gave myself a raise :)
On the subject of timeshares, check out this site: http://www.timeshareforums.com/. You can find the answer to just about any question or concern you have on this forum. It seems to be filled with genuinely nice and helpful people who are owners and investigators alike.
It looks like I'll be selling 3-day, 2-night timeshare packages to people at sporting events here in town. I get people to sign up for a weekend getaway at one of Bluegreen's resorts for less than $50. Not bad. The only stipulation is that they have to take one of the 90-minute sales presentation tours once they are there. I think I can handle this. I have taken several of the tours and they're not so bad overall. I thought the Bluegreen presentation was pleasant. And, really, how hard can it be to sell 3 days in a resort-style hotel for 50 bucks?! You can't get a decent room for one night for less than $80 in most vacation spots. I would do it. In fact, I have done it! And I was quite satisfied.
As usual, I just hope it pays well. I love making a sale, having a happy customer, and knowing that I just gave myself a raise :)
On the subject of timeshares, check out this site: http://www.timeshareforums.com/. You can find the answer to just about any question or concern you have on this forum. It seems to be filled with genuinely nice and helpful people who are owners and investigators alike.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Timeshares!
I was wading through Charleston Craigslist looking for part-time jobs that don't involve intercontinental wire transfers and I happened upon a timeshare sales job. I know, timeshares... down there with car salesmen and the cell phone kiosk guys in the mall. But, I firmly believe that I will do best in profit-motivated direct sales, as long as it's something that I really feel strongly about. Do I feel strongly about timeshares?
Rewind to two weeks ago. It was Saturday before St. Patty's day and my wife and a friend of mine were walking around Downtown Charleston, using the 'holiday' excuse to drink before noon. Having had a couple of drinks before breakfast, we were feeling pretty festive and conversational. As we're walking, discussing what to do for the rest of the day, a guy behind a little stand yells out "Have y'all had lunch yet?" I look over and see a guy standing behind a little stand outside of A.W. Shucks right on the sidewalk. I tell him we just had Irish Car Bombs, then breakfast. "Oh, do y'all like to drink?" he asks. "What does it look like?" I ask, a little too loudly. He produced 3 vouchers for $25 each to some of the places we like to go. If we just go on a 90-minute presentation right around the corner at the resort, we will get our choice of $75 worth of vouchers for gas cards or local hotels and restaurants. I've been through timeshare presentations before, some really bad, some quite impressive. In fact, my wife and I had talked about signing up with one well after having gone through the presentation. But this time, as before, we just didn't feel that we should commit ourselves to vacation money. It makes sense to do if you are financially stable and like to vacation, but I would hate to be in a pinch one month and have to decide whether to make the Bluegreen payment or the car payment. Does that make sense? Anyways, we sign up and meet our salesperson. He shows us around the resort and asks us if we're here to get some free stuff. "Most def." But the resort was nice! Very nice, awesome location, great view, huge rooms, historic building, great restaurant, great staff, we're impressed! After the tour, our salesperson sits us down and starts closing in. Long story short, we didn't purchase full ownership but we did purchase the sampler pack. We get 10,000 points to use at any of their resorts for the next year for $800. It works out to about 10 nights in resorts in Miami Beach, Orlando, and Aruba, to name a few. That's $80 per night at some nice places. We will sure use them, and I would love to take my wife to Aruba affordably for our 3rd anniversary in December.
Back to today, Wednesday, April 2nd. I am still happy about the purchase, and my wife can't wait to go to Miami this Summer and Aruba this Winter. And neither can I. But, I'm going this afternoon to sign up to sell this stuff for Bluegreen, the same company I just bought from! Will it go well? It's part-time weekend work and I could use the money. They tell me the money is really good, and that's what I like to hear.
Rewind to two weeks ago. It was Saturday before St. Patty's day and my wife and a friend of mine were walking around Downtown Charleston, using the 'holiday' excuse to drink before noon. Having had a couple of drinks before breakfast, we were feeling pretty festive and conversational. As we're walking, discussing what to do for the rest of the day, a guy behind a little stand yells out "Have y'all had lunch yet?" I look over and see a guy standing behind a little stand outside of A.W. Shucks right on the sidewalk. I tell him we just had Irish Car Bombs, then breakfast. "Oh, do y'all like to drink?" he asks. "What does it look like?" I ask, a little too loudly. He produced 3 vouchers for $25 each to some of the places we like to go. If we just go on a 90-minute presentation right around the corner at the resort, we will get our choice of $75 worth of vouchers for gas cards or local hotels and restaurants. I've been through timeshare presentations before, some really bad, some quite impressive. In fact, my wife and I had talked about signing up with one well after having gone through the presentation. But this time, as before, we just didn't feel that we should commit ourselves to vacation money. It makes sense to do if you are financially stable and like to vacation, but I would hate to be in a pinch one month and have to decide whether to make the Bluegreen payment or the car payment. Does that make sense? Anyways, we sign up and meet our salesperson. He shows us around the resort and asks us if we're here to get some free stuff. "Most def." But the resort was nice! Very nice, awesome location, great view, huge rooms, historic building, great restaurant, great staff, we're impressed! After the tour, our salesperson sits us down and starts closing in. Long story short, we didn't purchase full ownership but we did purchase the sampler pack. We get 10,000 points to use at any of their resorts for the next year for $800. It works out to about 10 nights in resorts in Miami Beach, Orlando, and Aruba, to name a few. That's $80 per night at some nice places. We will sure use them, and I would love to take my wife to Aruba affordably for our 3rd anniversary in December.
Back to today, Wednesday, April 2nd. I am still happy about the purchase, and my wife can't wait to go to Miami this Summer and Aruba this Winter. And neither can I. But, I'm going this afternoon to sign up to sell this stuff for Bluegreen, the same company I just bought from! Will it go well? It's part-time weekend work and I could use the money. They tell me the money is really good, and that's what I like to hear.
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