Whenever a door knocker comes to my home to sell me something I probably don’t need, or already have – like electricity, I always tell them the same thing:
Congratulations – you’re going to be rich!
Yep, I give them praise for what they are doing (one of the most difficult jobs there is). I then go onto tell them about how the skills they are gathering will give them a massive life advantage in any developed economy. I remind them what these skills include:
- Dealing with rejection. (Yes, I politely tell them I am not going to buy upfront)
- Learning how to sell to a stranger.
- Learning to sell products which are homogenous, boring, commodities & even unwanted.
- Learning how to talk and pitch – their pitch time is at most a few seconds.
- Understanding body language.
- The power of persistence.
- How much courage they have and their willingness to work (I’m guessing it’s job you only take out of desperation)
There’s more but you get the picture.
Most often they are pleased I’ve noticed this, and sometimes the hardworking sales person doesn’t even realise what a terrific opportunity this ‘horrible job’ turned out to be. I tell them it only gets easier from here. And if we happen to get into a conversation I give them some tips on selling, recommended some great sales trainers they can listen to; like Brian Tracy and Jim Rohn, and even some books worth reading. Lastly I explain to them that all CEO’s simply have to be Sales Rain Makers.
Even when we choose not to buy, we can still create some value for the seller.