A famous salesman told the following story at a retail conference:
"There was town out in the Old west that had two general stores. Harry, who owned one of them was a workaholic. He opened early, stayed in the store all day and closed late. Even so, he barely made a living.
Larry, who ran the other store, came in at nine. At ten he went out back where he kept some cattle, and made all the cows turn and face north. After lunch, Larry went out back again and made all the cows turn and face south. This practice was repeated every day.
Larry's store was successful and he became wealthy."
The speaker then asked his audience if anyone could tell what principle of merchandising was illustrated by the story.
A guy in the back stood up and said, "That's easy. The point is if you want to be successful in merchandising, it is important to rotate your stock!"
Moral of the story. True sales professionals know that in order to be successful at sales, you need to be able to tell a good story. People sometimes will not listen to things they are told directly. But everybody loves and remembers a good story. Arm yourself with a few that have morals designed to counter the most common objections your prospects give you. Then watch your sales soar!
"Writing is an extreme privilege but it's also a gift. It's a gift to yourself and it's a gift of giving a story to someone." - Amy Tan
"There was town out in the Old west that had two general stores. Harry, who owned one of them was a workaholic. He opened early, stayed in the store all day and closed late. Even so, he barely made a living.
Larry, who ran the other store, came in at nine. At ten he went out back where he kept some cattle, and made all the cows turn and face north. After lunch, Larry went out back again and made all the cows turn and face south. This practice was repeated every day.
Larry's store was successful and he became wealthy."
The speaker then asked his audience if anyone could tell what principle of merchandising was illustrated by the story.
A guy in the back stood up and said, "That's easy. The point is if you want to be successful in merchandising, it is important to rotate your stock!"
Moral of the story. True sales professionals know that in order to be successful at sales, you need to be able to tell a good story. People sometimes will not listen to things they are told directly. But everybody loves and remembers a good story. Arm yourself with a few that have morals designed to counter the most common objections your prospects give you. Then watch your sales soar!
"Writing is an extreme privilege but it's also a gift. It's a gift to yourself and it's a gift of giving a story to someone." - Amy Tan
