Above the Crowd!
It was April 22. I was in my second year with a company. I was hired as a sales hunter with no outbound sales experience. I was handed a silver platter with nothing on it. The silver platter was an opportunity; I needed to acquire new business clients.
I was prospecting door-to-door (no LinkedIn.com back then) in Ottawa, Ontario and I was waiting to hear back from 3 prospects that I had given proposals. I hadn’t heard back from any of them after days of repeated calling, and I needed to win one of these accounts to achieve my monthly sales goal. I kept thinking “Why aren’t they getting back to me?”. After some reflection, I realized it wasn’t that they didn’t want to get back to me, it’s because they are running their business, they’re just busy. So I thought to myself, how can I make it a priority for them to call me back?. Well, while driving, I saw a large billboard of the company Re/Max with the hot air balloon logo and statement – Above the Crowd! And then it hit me.
As I mentioned in the beginning of this article, it was April 22; what is the significance of April 22? Well, it’s my mother’s birthday, but you wouldn’t know that. It’s Earth Day as well. So dressed in an olive green double breasted suit, I drove to a local Garden store with an objective to get my prospects attention. I filled my trunk with tree seedlings; (know where I’m going with this?) I then headed to a stationary store to purchase small greeting cards. The first 3 places I went as you would have guessed was to the 3 prospects. I dropped off the tree seedlings with a card in them stating “Happy Earth Day, looking forward to hearing back from you and partnering with your organization”.
How many of the 3 prospects called me back that day? All 3. How many of the 3 proposals did I win that month? 2 of them. This story would have been better if I won all 3 accounts but that’s for a fiction novel.
Observations:
- In a world where the competition is fierce, you need to differentiate yourself, not the brand your representing.
- People are busy, be creative and figure out how to get on their priority list or get their attention.
- Don’t wait for customers to come to you.
- Never forget your mother’s birthday.
Robbie