Three Sales Lessons I Learned on a Front Porch.
While growing up, I spent a lot of time with my grandparents, who lived in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky.
They had a carport that functioned as their porch, where my grandmother always kept lots of extra chairs. The best part of daylight hours in the summer were spent there. We didn’t watch TV, look at social media, or email on our phones. The TV stayed off during the day in the summertime and only turned on in the evening in time for the evening news followed by Wheel of Fortune. A yellow phone hung on the kitchen wall inside, but if it rang more than once a day, something unusual had happened. No one stayed inside and waited for it to ring.
The porch was just a large outdoor living room. People would see us as they were driving by and stop for a visit. They would pull up one of the empty chairs and talk for a few minutes, that sometimes turned into hours. They would talk about the weather, the national news, and how their families were doing. My favorite part of the visit was when they told stories and remembered the past. All the stories were interesting. I usually sat quietly, listening on the edge of my seat. I hung on to every word. The stories were all different. Sometimes something a little sad would come up, but usually, it ended with a smile. The best ones included laughter, lots of laughing out loud.
They didn’t call ahead or write a letter asking if a visit was acceptable or telling us when to expect them; they would just pull in and get out. No matter who the visitor was, they would have a big smile on their face. They always greeted my grandparents with questions like, “How ya doing?” and, “How’re the kids?”
They were there for a visit. They cared about my grandparents, and my grandparents were glad they stopped by. They shared, laughed, talked, and enjoyed each other’s company. When they said their goodbyes, all were better for the time they had spent.
Here are three takeaways I learned on those summer days:
·Greet everyone with a big smile and be yourself.
·Understand everyone can use a visit and a kind word. You aren’t a nuisance if you are there to say hello and offer help.
·Show you care by asking questions about the other person and how they are doing before you go on and on about yourself.
Here’s how I applied those lessons in my career as an outside sales rep in a copier dealership in the city.
I saw the opportunity to do just what my grandparents taught me in that tiny rural coal mining community. While I was a shy, backward introvert, I was also friendly and just a bit curious, or as we call it, the mountains, nosy.
So when offered the chance to make outside sales after moving to the city, I loved the opportunity to do cold calls and pull into every parking lot of every office building, church, and school I could find. I greeted those inside with a smile and was just myself.
I understood I wasn’t a nuisance. I worked for a great company with wonderful products. Those inside those buildings were looking for answers and products that would work. I had solutions to their problems; they needed my help.
I asked, “ How are you, and how are those copiers working for you?” I did that before I started talking about me, my company, or things they didn’t care to know.
I’m forever thankful for that small community and the many lessons it taught me. Some of my favorite memories came from that front porch.
