I'm in sales. I'm in sales. I'm in sales. This is my therapy. I'm in denial. A coworker of mine told me a year ago that I was in sales. I almost took a swing at him. But I am.
I've never liked the term "sales." The thought of being sold something irritates me. I love buying things, but not things that are sold to me. I do what I enjoy doing, which is building relationships with people. If, in the process, my products or programs can benefit others, that's what it's all about for me. In this business, it can take anywhere from five minutes to five years to make any particular deal work for both parties, and sometimes you never do come together. That's the nature of our business. I've learned that burning bridges is always a bad idea, not just sometimes, but always. In this small industry, the individual who is an irritating salesperson today may have the next great product that you must have tomorrow. In the corporate world, your employee today may be your boss tomorrow.
A great "bad" example of this just came to mind. I was dealing with a major customer a while back who had just retained a well-known industry "pro" to fix their coin-op program. The negotiations got ugly quickly. The pro did nothing for the customer that wasn't self-serving first, and he clearly crossed the ethical boundaries before it was all done. There was no surprise when the client fired the pro, as their coin-op program was now officially in the tank. A few months later, he called us for a job. I had rehearsed for this moment with an acid-laced, retribution-like tirade, but when the time came I just said, "No, thank you" and good luck. I haven't a clue where he landed, but I know he didn't land here.
For all the doctors and lawyers and accountants out there who can hang their shingle in just about any industry, they may be able to get away with this. I don't know about the rest of you, but basically, the amusement industry is what I know. It's where my expertise is. I'm in year 21 in this industry and not looking around. I can't afford to burn bridges even if that was my nature, which it isn't. There are numerous examples in this industry of people who you can count on no matter where they land. I'm glad to be associated with many of them.
We're all in the sales business. We're selling to customers, our bankers, our bosses, and our wives, and just about everyone we encounter in the course of a day. My primary education credits are from Judy Chilton (Mom), Stan Chilton (Dad), the University of Kansas, my AMOA friends, Dale Carnegie, and Deanna Chilton (my wife). There are far more competent sales professionals in this business than I, but here are a few observations and principles I've picked up along the way.
Dale Carnegie's training stresses showing a genuine interest in other people. The key word is genuine. We've all met people who do all the right things, remember your name, send you thank-you cards for picking up the phone, ask you about your fourth-grade teacher, etc. But they forget the genuine part. They're fake and self-motivated. No, thanks. There is no bigger compliment when building relationships than to show a genuine interest in the other person. The rewards go far beyond financial. Besides, I find most people are incredibly interesting. Everyone has a story.
There is nothing like face-to-face meetings. My first exposure to this was when my father would put me in the car and we would drive to the bank and hand the banker our monthly note payment. At the time, I was 22 years old and identified that as a total waste of both of our time. Now, at 44 years old, I realize that Stan was building a relationship, and trying to teach me how important this was.
When I came to work at Sugarloaf in 1998, it quickly became apparent that regular travel was going to be a part of my job description. My initial reaction was: What about email, telephone conferences, videoconferences, fax machines, etc? With technology where it is today, what are we doing running to the airport every week? Then I remembered Stan and myself dropping that check off at the bank every month. There's no difference. Looking your customers and suppliers eye to eye is still the best way to conduct business. Many companies closely monitor and restrict traveling. Our company closely monitors why you're not traveling.
A scheduled, face-to-face meeting for me has another benefit. It forces me to review and know every possible detail for that account. Sales, machine averages - all of it is reviewed for meetings with customers. It forces you to keep sharp on the details.
A scheduled meeting provides a time for a quality evaluation of your program. Generally held in your customer's office or conference room, all the necessary people involved in your program are present. Cell phones are turned off. Voicemails are turned on. It's an opportunity for you to have an uninterrupted audience with your very important customer. When you're talking with them on the phone, you don't know where their mind is or what they're doing. They could be sending emails home discussing what's for dinner tonight, for all you know.
Travel takes a bad rap. It isn't so bad. Clearly, the most unattractive aspect of traveling is the time away from your family. Life is a series of decisions and tradeoffs. If traveling on business two or three times per month for two or three days at a time is my tradeoff, then I'm doing OK. Another coworker asked me after the recent Fourth of July weekend how many rounds of golf I got in over the weekend. That number was zero. He didn't believe me. I had three days at home with the family and kids and wouldn't have wanted it any other way. He didn't believe me, but kids have a way of making you behave in unexpected ways.
I've traveled regularly for 21 years in this industry. My early travels were by car, driving a loop from Wichita to Topeka, to Kansas City, and back home. My AMOA experience took me all over the country and the globe. Today my travel is flying off to Arkansas or some other destination. Flying has benefits over driving. You can have a beer and sleep on a plane. I tried sleeping while driving once. Next thing I knew, I was upside down in a ditch.
The travel amenities today, minus the crazy security issues that require you to dress and undress a couple of times before actually getting on a plane, are better than ever. The cash-strapped airlines do try to cater to the business traveler with shorter check-in lines, early seating, and even recently reduced airfares for short-notice trips, at least in Denver. My routine (my inflexible "routine" drives many of my travel companions batty) is to drop my car at the offsite parking. I don't have to mess with airport parking, and they'll wash my car while I'm gone if I ask them to. I fly to my destination, seated in the window seat (I've never had anyone crawl over me when I'm seated by the window) and in the exit row whenever possible. My rental car shuttle takes me directly to my requested Ford Taurus (I request this car, as it has a big trunk and I know where everything is on the car), and upon arrival to my hotel, I have my king room ready for me, low to the ground and near an elevator. In the morning it's USA Today and a cup of coffee. They really make it pretty easy.
I hope you're having a great summer, from one salesman to another.