Greg Cole
Member
Tell me a story....
An important part of sales is your ability to tell a story. People only purchase items or goods if the need exists. ( see “limb replacement section). Often this can be achieved by a good story. Some of the best stories are those that are true. I will share one that I developed back in the day. The fact that I actually did everything in this story made it more useful.
It was around 1995/96. I decided I wanted to have my technicians and their spouses over to my house for dinner.
One of my closest friends was a chef (and is today working at a VERY exclusive restaurant here in the Atlanta market). He had taught me how to make spaghetti from scratch. Early one morning I awoke and headed to the grocery store. I bought several tomatoes and other various ingredients I needed. I spent the entire day slowly cooking the sauce on the stove. I made so much of it, that I actually had two huge pots completely full. You could see the tomatoes dissolve into one incredibly good smelling sauce. I even went so far as to slowly infuse various cheeses into the sauce.It looked, smelled, and tasted amazing.....
At around 6 pm, my guests began to arrive. My fiancé was running about 15 minutes late. This was fortuitous for me as I had planned something I wasn’t sure she would agree with.
You see; about two weeks prior to this we had purchased a bright white sectional sofa. This was a major purchase for us. I believe we spent around $3500- $4000. This was quite a bit of money to a couple of young kids back then. She arrived home to a house full of guests and to my ladling an entire pot of piping hot homemade spaghetti sauce onto her new sectional!!!
I still remember the four letter words that were coming out of her mouth and the look on my employees and their wives faces as I did this. Rest assured I had hidden all the kitchen knives and the guns! lol
What she didn’t know was that I had applied a Fleurochemical protectant ( Larry Cobb's Ultraseal) on it the day prior. I let the sauce sit for about 5 minutes only because it took me that long to calm her down!!! I then proceeded to take a couple of terry cloth towels and wipe every single bit of it off! There wasn’t a single mark on the sofa! And THAT is when I and all of my guys became believers in the power of protectant! Every single one of the techs went to work the next day and subsequent months and told the story of what I’d done! Every single customer bought in to the story and wanted that type of protection! Don’t underestimate the power of a good story….. And the power of having your employees believe in what they sell!
More stories to come….
An important part of sales is your ability to tell a story. People only purchase items or goods if the need exists. ( see “limb replacement section). Often this can be achieved by a good story. Some of the best stories are those that are true. I will share one that I developed back in the day. The fact that I actually did everything in this story made it more useful.
It was around 1995/96. I decided I wanted to have my technicians and their spouses over to my house for dinner.
One of my closest friends was a chef (and is today working at a VERY exclusive restaurant here in the Atlanta market). He had taught me how to make spaghetti from scratch. Early one morning I awoke and headed to the grocery store. I bought several tomatoes and other various ingredients I needed. I spent the entire day slowly cooking the sauce on the stove. I made so much of it, that I actually had two huge pots completely full. You could see the tomatoes dissolve into one incredibly good smelling sauce. I even went so far as to slowly infuse various cheeses into the sauce.It looked, smelled, and tasted amazing.....
At around 6 pm, my guests began to arrive. My fiancé was running about 15 minutes late. This was fortuitous for me as I had planned something I wasn’t sure she would agree with.
You see; about two weeks prior to this we had purchased a bright white sectional sofa. This was a major purchase for us. I believe we spent around $3500- $4000. This was quite a bit of money to a couple of young kids back then. She arrived home to a house full of guests and to my ladling an entire pot of piping hot homemade spaghetti sauce onto her new sectional!!!
I still remember the four letter words that were coming out of her mouth and the look on my employees and their wives faces as I did this. Rest assured I had hidden all the kitchen knives and the guns! lol
What she didn’t know was that I had applied a Fleurochemical protectant ( Larry Cobb's Ultraseal) on it the day prior. I let the sauce sit for about 5 minutes only because it took me that long to calm her down!!! I then proceeded to take a couple of terry cloth towels and wipe every single bit of it off! There wasn’t a single mark on the sofa! And THAT is when I and all of my guys became believers in the power of protectant! Every single one of the techs went to work the next day and subsequent months and told the story of what I’d done! Every single customer bought in to the story and wanted that type of protection! Don’t underestimate the power of a good story….. And the power of having your employees believe in what they sell!
More stories to come….
