Throughout my time selling liquor on the "North Side" of Omaha I learned a lot of things. I learned what "getting wet" was (dipping cigarettes in formaldehyde) why they sell roses in glass tubes at gas stations (they're crack pipes) and any number of other interesting facts. However, one of the backgrounds I had was a familiarity of firearms. This proved to be useful a few times.
I was visiting a new account on my territory that was across the street from a large housing project. It wasn't the type of place you wanted to be around for too long if you weren't from the neighborhood. When I walked into the corner shop and my eyes adjusted to the light I realized I was in a glass box about 10' by 10'.
Behind the glass and steel was a little old lady named Lilly. Behind her there was her entire inventory of wine & spirits, even beer. If you wanted anything in this store you had to get it handed through a steel drawer. It was fairly obvious I was in a place that had found a way to deal with excessive theft.
"Hi, I'm looking for the owner, is that you?" Lilly slowly reached her hand down under the counter and asked "maybe...who are you and what do you want?". It dawned on me later that she had probably put her hand on the gun under the counter thinking I was a threat. "I'm your new liquor rep, I thought I'd drop by and introduce myself."
In the 30 years Lilly had owned this shop nobody had ever stopped in to see her in person. She didn't even have a rep calling her on a regular basis to take her order. Consequently she had only got the most basic level of discounts on her products and her prices were incredibly high. After talking to her for thirty minutes she finally buzzed me in only after I gave her my drivers license and a business card, verifying who I was.
Behind the counter it was a mess. There was inventory everywhere and she didn't have much need to clean up a whole lot since she was the only one back there. I took 4 steps and saw a .38 Special revolver laying on the counter in plain view. I could also see the tips of the hollowpoint bullets in the cylinder so I assumed it was loaded.
"Now why did you go with the 38 instead of a 45? I keep going back and fourth between the two calibers and cant make up my mind." Lilly smiled and offered me a seat and a drink. In between customers for the next 2 hours Lilly told me about everyone she had ever shot at who was robbing her. She owned the liquor store, the hair salon across the street, and 5 other businesses or rental homes in a 1 block area.
"I have to use hollow points because the last guy I hit walked into the ER a few hours later. I got him 3 times but didn't kill him!" Lilly went on to explain that at 85 anything bigger than a 38 would possibly break her wrist. The entire time I sat there and politely listened to her stories.
After the shooting stories passed and she realized I wasn't there to rob her I began to tell her how I worked. If she ordered through me I could get her discounts on her orders if she bought full cases. She could then keep her prices the same or lower them and sell more.
A few months go by and Lilly's average order had doubled in size. Admittedly she was calling me when ever she thought of it, including 11:30 at night, but she felt more comfortable buying from someone who she knew.
Too many of the companies out there aren't focused on building a relationship with their customers. Part of that relationship is providing a face to go with the phone number. Lilly feared for my safety and insisted I never step foot in her store again. I reminded her that I was insured and if someone wanted to rob me they'd be stealing my bosses booze or my beat up car with more problems than it was worth! Still, I made it a point to stop in and say "hello" or talk guns once a quarter. I didn't get rich selling to Lilly but my products started to sell better at the local bars.
Friday, January 30, 2015
Monday, January 26, 2015
Bilingual blunder
Years ago when I was a wine and spirit wholesaler I was given a Mercado (Mexican grocery store) as a new account. I stopped in a week before their license was approved and met a young man in the meat department. When I told him who I was looking for he said "Yeah, that's my dad...he doesn't speak English though."
What he didn't realize is that the 6'3", Irish, former lineman standing before him knew how to speak Spanish fairly well. "Ok, I'll see what we can do..." and I walked over to the grocery side of the building.
Behind the counter was Isidro, a hard working guy with a big mustache and glasses. He looked kind of like the Spanish version of Groucho Marx. "I'm looking for Isidiro" I said.
"Soy Isidro, pero no hablo ingles" (I'm Isidro but I don't speak English) Just then the Budweiser rep walked up to the counter and began to speak to Isidro (in Spanish).
I had met this guy in a few of my other accounts and knew he was from Nogales so he spoke fluent Spanish. Realizing he probably needed to wrap up some business before he moved on to his next stop I decided to wait.
In Spanish with me standing 4 feet away he began to lay into me. "Can you believe they sent this guy in here? He'll rip you off! He'll treat you like a dirty Mexican and will never give you respect! The guy doesn't even speak the language, how will he be able to service your account?" And he went on for some time. I picked up about 80% of what he was saying and did nothing for at least 5 minutes.
Finally he started taking cheap shots at me being a "white guy" and being scared in the neighborhood. I had heard enough and laughed at one of his jokes out loud. "Did you read something funny there buddy?" he said with impunity.
I turned and looked him dead in the eye, "Quidado hablo espanol tambien" (Careful I speak Spanish too) With that his jaw dropped and he froze. Isidro started laughing, not just a chuckle, a deep barrel laugh. Customers in the store also reacted with laughter and amazement.
Isidro caught his breath and said, "Man, thats funny!"
"I KNEW YOU SPOKE ENGLISH!" I shouted at him while laughing. The Budweiser rep was packing his papers up and hastily leaving the store. Still having said nothing to me after the revelation. I was almost twice his size so I'm sure he was afraid I was going to retaliate physically.
From that moment on Isidro and his family really enjoyed working with me, as I did them. I felt more comfortable speaking English and they felt more comfortable speaking Spanish. So we worked in two languages most of the time.
Once over the holidays my boss was with me helping sell gift sets. I had told him that Isidro wanted any tequila gift sets we had. We had 72 cases of Sauza Hornitos gift sets with two shot glasses in the box.
We walked into the store and Isidro and I began to talk about the deal. He told me he would take every single case he could if the price was right. I asked him how many he could take if I was able to get more and he simply said "todo" (all). I nodded my head and turned to my manager Tom, "How many more cases can we get? He's taking the pallet we have now can we get more?"
The look on Toms face was priceless. He had thought I was on a bluetooth call and Isidro wasn't talking to me but the customers near the counter. We ended up getting another 2 pallets of gift sets from different states who couldn't sell it.
Isidro blew through the gift sets in two weeks. He even asked if we could get more for him! I told him the 1300 bottles he just sold would have to do for the year and he laughed. (6 pack cases)
Anytime I was in the store and someone began to say something "secretive" in front of me in Spanish Isidro cut them off. After a few months of working with them I asked what happened to my buddy from Budweiser. Apparently he had transferred to a different distributor halfway across the state. Word had got out that he got "busted" by the "big guy" who spoke Spanish. Isidro had told them how wrong he (the bud rep) was and how much money I had made him. Nobody respected the Bud rep anymore and they stopped doing business with him.
The lesson learned is always treat your competition with respect. Buyers understand that you're doing battle with each other on a daily basis. Some like to watch you go at it and others don't want the drama. By allowing my competitor to dig himself into a hole he couldn't recover from and doing it with some class I became somewhat of a legend. The next few accounts I picked up with Spanish speaking owners asked if I also sold to Isidro. I smiled and responded with "Si, soy el" (yes, I'm him).
What he didn't realize is that the 6'3", Irish, former lineman standing before him knew how to speak Spanish fairly well. "Ok, I'll see what we can do..." and I walked over to the grocery side of the building.
Behind the counter was Isidro, a hard working guy with a big mustache and glasses. He looked kind of like the Spanish version of Groucho Marx. "I'm looking for Isidiro" I said.
"Soy Isidro, pero no hablo ingles" (I'm Isidro but I don't speak English) Just then the Budweiser rep walked up to the counter and began to speak to Isidro (in Spanish).
I had met this guy in a few of my other accounts and knew he was from Nogales so he spoke fluent Spanish. Realizing he probably needed to wrap up some business before he moved on to his next stop I decided to wait.
In Spanish with me standing 4 feet away he began to lay into me. "Can you believe they sent this guy in here? He'll rip you off! He'll treat you like a dirty Mexican and will never give you respect! The guy doesn't even speak the language, how will he be able to service your account?" And he went on for some time. I picked up about 80% of what he was saying and did nothing for at least 5 minutes.
Finally he started taking cheap shots at me being a "white guy" and being scared in the neighborhood. I had heard enough and laughed at one of his jokes out loud. "Did you read something funny there buddy?" he said with impunity.
I turned and looked him dead in the eye, "Quidado hablo espanol tambien" (Careful I speak Spanish too) With that his jaw dropped and he froze. Isidro started laughing, not just a chuckle, a deep barrel laugh. Customers in the store also reacted with laughter and amazement.
Isidro caught his breath and said, "Man, thats funny!"
"I KNEW YOU SPOKE ENGLISH!" I shouted at him while laughing. The Budweiser rep was packing his papers up and hastily leaving the store. Still having said nothing to me after the revelation. I was almost twice his size so I'm sure he was afraid I was going to retaliate physically.
From that moment on Isidro and his family really enjoyed working with me, as I did them. I felt more comfortable speaking English and they felt more comfortable speaking Spanish. So we worked in two languages most of the time.
Once over the holidays my boss was with me helping sell gift sets. I had told him that Isidro wanted any tequila gift sets we had. We had 72 cases of Sauza Hornitos gift sets with two shot glasses in the box.
We walked into the store and Isidro and I began to talk about the deal. He told me he would take every single case he could if the price was right. I asked him how many he could take if I was able to get more and he simply said "todo" (all). I nodded my head and turned to my manager Tom, "How many more cases can we get? He's taking the pallet we have now can we get more?"
The look on Toms face was priceless. He had thought I was on a bluetooth call and Isidro wasn't talking to me but the customers near the counter. We ended up getting another 2 pallets of gift sets from different states who couldn't sell it.
Isidro blew through the gift sets in two weeks. He even asked if we could get more for him! I told him the 1300 bottles he just sold would have to do for the year and he laughed. (6 pack cases)
Anytime I was in the store and someone began to say something "secretive" in front of me in Spanish Isidro cut them off. After a few months of working with them I asked what happened to my buddy from Budweiser. Apparently he had transferred to a different distributor halfway across the state. Word had got out that he got "busted" by the "big guy" who spoke Spanish. Isidro had told them how wrong he (the bud rep) was and how much money I had made him. Nobody respected the Bud rep anymore and they stopped doing business with him.
The lesson learned is always treat your competition with respect. Buyers understand that you're doing battle with each other on a daily basis. Some like to watch you go at it and others don't want the drama. By allowing my competitor to dig himself into a hole he couldn't recover from and doing it with some class I became somewhat of a legend. The next few accounts I picked up with Spanish speaking owners asked if I also sold to Isidro. I smiled and responded with "Si, soy el" (yes, I'm him).
Monday, January 19, 2015
The power of "Why not"?
Throughout my career I've run into dozens of things my managers told me was impossible. They range from the very large tasks that you have to take a few runs at to stuff you could fix in an afternoon. One of the strongest tools I've learned over the years to solve the "impossible" is asking "Why not?".
It sounds simple enough right? Just ask a question and see what kind of response you get. Wisdom is knowing that you don't know everything...who why not ask "why not?"? Honestly, I think people are afraid of the question. Asking a question like that may convey you're lack of understanding of a situation or the material at hand. But when you're facing the "impossible" task does anyone have a handle on what you're doing?
Back in my wine and spirit days I had a bar in my territory that was in a rough part of town. The last time I was there they were demolishing the garage across the street after a car crashed into the wall during a gunfight. At 6' 3" 350lbs they would walk me, 10 feet, from the door to my car to make sure I was safe...it was a sketchy neighborhood to say the least.
Strangely in this bar they sold a ton of Jagermiester. They sold more than any other bar for several blocks. They often ordered cases of Jager just to make it through a holiday weekend. This was unheard of in the on-premise (bar) side of the business, especially since they didn't have a Jager tap machine.
Jagermiester tap machines are machines that help you print money. Sidney Frank, the parent company, would sell the tap machine for $300 and then give you 6 bottles free to pay off the tap machine. If you do some quick math you spent $300 and made twice that selling Jager Bombs.
This bar had refused to buy a tap machine. Literally turning down someone who was trying to stuff hundreds of dollars into their pocket each night! When I got the account they told me to not even bother...they'd never get one.
After talking to Frank, the owner, he was reluctant to spend any cash since he was doing just fine with his Jager sales. He didn't say "NO" to the tap machine but he didn't really seem too excited about it. One day I finally asked him "why not?". His answer made my jaw drop.
The bar had a very narrow back bar. So narrow that you could only go 2 or 3 glasses deep on the counter before you were out of room. The liquor bottles were on shelves above the counter top or below it.
Franks response to "why not?"...the guy who was crushing the numbers out of a hole in the wall... "I can't fit it on my bar." He was right the tap machine took up a pretty good sized foot print on the bar, 11" x 17" roughly. If you put the machine in the "standard" orientation it would hang over the edge and would most likely end up on the floor.
"Frank, have you tried to put it on the bar..sideways?" nobody, and I mean nobody in the 15 years they had tap machines had EVER considered turning the tap machine 90 degrees so it fit on his bar! Seriously, at least 30 different people in the business including the owners of the company and representatives from Jagermiester themselves had NEVER considered turning the machine 90 degrees. It works exactly the same and, in my opinion, has a greater billboarding effect in the bar.
I borrowed a sample machine we had in the warehouse and brought it to the bar to prove to Frank that the machine would not only fit but would work fine...90 degrees from what he was thinking. We set it up and did a normal Thursday night crowd. Nothing special and nothing extra from me...except the tap machine.
I hung around for 2 hours and sat at the end of the bar, being eyeballed by everyone in there as if I didn't belong, and watched. In 2 hours Franks bar did almost 400 shots of Jagermiester. The state record at the time in 2 hours, at a "mainstream bar" was 140. I had to bring Frank another case of Jagermiester the next day as he had gone through more than 12 bottles in a single night.
Frank and the crew continued to drink Jagermiester like it was water at the bar. When the Jager Bus came to town for the college world series his bar was at the top of the list to set up. Because of the neighborhood we did a short promo with the bus from 4-6 and had the Jager people "chaperoned" by several "local" guys to ensure their safety.
I was the top Jagermiester salesman in the state of Nebraska for that year. Crushing my previous year with a 250% increase in sales. When I was given a bottle of Jager and a leather jacket with the logo embroidered on the back I was asked, "what was your secret?". I held out my hands like I was holding a box and said, "I asked 'why not?'...and I turned the tap machine 90 degrees".
It sounds simple enough right? Just ask a question and see what kind of response you get. Wisdom is knowing that you don't know everything...who why not ask "why not?"? Honestly, I think people are afraid of the question. Asking a question like that may convey you're lack of understanding of a situation or the material at hand. But when you're facing the "impossible" task does anyone have a handle on what you're doing?
Back in my wine and spirit days I had a bar in my territory that was in a rough part of town. The last time I was there they were demolishing the garage across the street after a car crashed into the wall during a gunfight. At 6' 3" 350lbs they would walk me, 10 feet, from the door to my car to make sure I was safe...it was a sketchy neighborhood to say the least.
Strangely in this bar they sold a ton of Jagermiester. They sold more than any other bar for several blocks. They often ordered cases of Jager just to make it through a holiday weekend. This was unheard of in the on-premise (bar) side of the business, especially since they didn't have a Jager tap machine.
Jagermiester tap machines are machines that help you print money. Sidney Frank, the parent company, would sell the tap machine for $300 and then give you 6 bottles free to pay off the tap machine. If you do some quick math you spent $300 and made twice that selling Jager Bombs.
This bar had refused to buy a tap machine. Literally turning down someone who was trying to stuff hundreds of dollars into their pocket each night! When I got the account they told me to not even bother...they'd never get one.
After talking to Frank, the owner, he was reluctant to spend any cash since he was doing just fine with his Jager sales. He didn't say "NO" to the tap machine but he didn't really seem too excited about it. One day I finally asked him "why not?". His answer made my jaw drop.
The bar had a very narrow back bar. So narrow that you could only go 2 or 3 glasses deep on the counter before you were out of room. The liquor bottles were on shelves above the counter top or below it.
Franks response to "why not?"...the guy who was crushing the numbers out of a hole in the wall... "I can't fit it on my bar." He was right the tap machine took up a pretty good sized foot print on the bar, 11" x 17" roughly. If you put the machine in the "standard" orientation it would hang over the edge and would most likely end up on the floor.
"Frank, have you tried to put it on the bar..sideways?" nobody, and I mean nobody in the 15 years they had tap machines had EVER considered turning the tap machine 90 degrees so it fit on his bar! Seriously, at least 30 different people in the business including the owners of the company and representatives from Jagermiester themselves had NEVER considered turning the machine 90 degrees. It works exactly the same and, in my opinion, has a greater billboarding effect in the bar.
I borrowed a sample machine we had in the warehouse and brought it to the bar to prove to Frank that the machine would not only fit but would work fine...90 degrees from what he was thinking. We set it up and did a normal Thursday night crowd. Nothing special and nothing extra from me...except the tap machine.
I hung around for 2 hours and sat at the end of the bar, being eyeballed by everyone in there as if I didn't belong, and watched. In 2 hours Franks bar did almost 400 shots of Jagermiester. The state record at the time in 2 hours, at a "mainstream bar" was 140. I had to bring Frank another case of Jagermiester the next day as he had gone through more than 12 bottles in a single night.
Frank and the crew continued to drink Jagermiester like it was water at the bar. When the Jager Bus came to town for the college world series his bar was at the top of the list to set up. Because of the neighborhood we did a short promo with the bus from 4-6 and had the Jager people "chaperoned" by several "local" guys to ensure their safety.
I was the top Jagermiester salesman in the state of Nebraska for that year. Crushing my previous year with a 250% increase in sales. When I was given a bottle of Jager and a leather jacket with the logo embroidered on the back I was asked, "what was your secret?". I held out my hands like I was holding a box and said, "I asked 'why not?'...and I turned the tap machine 90 degrees".
Monday, January 12, 2015
Horror Story - Open Sewers at the grocery store
Years ago I worked as a wine and spirit distributor. Coming out of college what kids dream job doesn't involve being the liquor rep at the bar and tripping the life fantastic. I mean, think of all the free stuff you get!
Well, its true you get a lot of free stuff while you worked for one of these companies. However you constantly skirted the definition of "theft" every time you took something. The free "stuff" was for people who consume your products...you technically consume the products too...so why not?
One of my accounts was a run down converted Hinky Dinky grocery store in a rough part of Omaha NE. My boss took me into the store the first time and told me that he and the last sales guy walked up to a scene where the manager had been stabbed by a customer trying to bounce a check. He thought it was funny as hell and I became very alert to my surroundings.
We walk in this store and the smell of spoiled milk and cleaning supplies permeated the air. That kind of smell where you could tell someone was trying to cover a horrible odor but wasn't getting paid enough to really try hard to remove it. We met the new manager and he showed me the store.
"We get a lot of homeless people and you should never be here on check day, its just too crazy." I had to act like I had a clue what he was talking about but after a few weeks I understood where he was coming from. My boss asked how things were going since he took over from the previous, stabbed, manager.
"Things are going great! We got all the hard liquor locked up so people cant steal it or drink it in the store and we finally capped the open sewer in the back...so no more rats!" I honestly thought he was joking but he was serious. The store was a dump and nobody really cared to fix things up because they'd be broken as soon as they fixed it.
The people working there were a group of characters I enjoyed seeing. They didn't take shit from anyone and called your bluff instantly. Watching them wrangle drunks and other people trying to scam the counter became a sport.
Realizing this place was a train wreck and was on its last legs I also knew it had a large financial backer. (corporate) Nobody had done a reset in the liquor department for decades and it was hard to find the product you were looking for. So, I offered to get a group of people in and reset the liquor...in the morning...when we were safest.
After the reset the sales increased in the department because people could find the $1.99 Wild Irish Rose liters better than the $15 cream de cacao. I helped them get a hot feature price on pint and half pint bottles of vodka, which blew out the door.
Before they closed and became another store I made one enormous sale that blew everyone away in my company. Wild Irish Rose, which is %.01 below the limit for fortified wine (which is taxed higher), came out with a green apple flavor. They also offered a huge bonus to salespeople for both volume and a distribution.
I approached my non-stabbed (lately) friend at the store and told him he could have first crack at the new "wild eye" flavor. The next week we delivered 2 pallets of liter bottles to the store. It was also the first Friday of the month when people came in to cash their assistance checks. I dragged the pallets out on the floor in front of the liquor department and simply cut the tops off the boxes.
A sign was placed in the middle of them which read "Wild Irish Rose GREEN APPLE! Exclusive vendor pricing $1.90 a bottle!" I hadn't even got the sign centered and the first 2 or 3 boxes were empty. The following Monday he placed another order to replace the 2 pallets (1 pallet = 72 boxes of 12 bottles each) which were gone by mid day Sunday.
Lesson learned? Regardless of the situation there is money to be made. While I didn't enjoy the idea of people spending money on booze rather than food or clothing its a reality in certain parts of the world. There was nothing I could do to sway that opinion and effect a change for the hundreds of people buying my products. So, if they're going to buy it anyway...why not buy it from me?
By working with the manager and gaining his trust I was able to ask what may have been the largest liquor order in the stores history. The sale pricing made them money in volume but the pricing had never been seen by their customers. The "exclusive" phrasing on the sign, while true for a very short period of time, created a sense of urgency. Customers who liked it told their friends and brought in new business to the store.
Going forward I was the "go to" liquor rep when it came to new products and support with advertising prices. I was also able to ask for favors with meeting sales quotas by shipping in a few cases here and there when needed.
Well, its true you get a lot of free stuff while you worked for one of these companies. However you constantly skirted the definition of "theft" every time you took something. The free "stuff" was for people who consume your products...you technically consume the products too...so why not?
One of my accounts was a run down converted Hinky Dinky grocery store in a rough part of Omaha NE. My boss took me into the store the first time and told me that he and the last sales guy walked up to a scene where the manager had been stabbed by a customer trying to bounce a check. He thought it was funny as hell and I became very alert to my surroundings.
We walk in this store and the smell of spoiled milk and cleaning supplies permeated the air. That kind of smell where you could tell someone was trying to cover a horrible odor but wasn't getting paid enough to really try hard to remove it. We met the new manager and he showed me the store.
"We get a lot of homeless people and you should never be here on check day, its just too crazy." I had to act like I had a clue what he was talking about but after a few weeks I understood where he was coming from. My boss asked how things were going since he took over from the previous, stabbed, manager.
"Things are going great! We got all the hard liquor locked up so people cant steal it or drink it in the store and we finally capped the open sewer in the back...so no more rats!" I honestly thought he was joking but he was serious. The store was a dump and nobody really cared to fix things up because they'd be broken as soon as they fixed it.
The people working there were a group of characters I enjoyed seeing. They didn't take shit from anyone and called your bluff instantly. Watching them wrangle drunks and other people trying to scam the counter became a sport.
Realizing this place was a train wreck and was on its last legs I also knew it had a large financial backer. (corporate) Nobody had done a reset in the liquor department for decades and it was hard to find the product you were looking for. So, I offered to get a group of people in and reset the liquor...in the morning...when we were safest.
After the reset the sales increased in the department because people could find the $1.99 Wild Irish Rose liters better than the $15 cream de cacao. I helped them get a hot feature price on pint and half pint bottles of vodka, which blew out the door.
Before they closed and became another store I made one enormous sale that blew everyone away in my company. Wild Irish Rose, which is %.01 below the limit for fortified wine (which is taxed higher), came out with a green apple flavor. They also offered a huge bonus to salespeople for both volume and a distribution.
I approached my non-stabbed (lately) friend at the store and told him he could have first crack at the new "wild eye" flavor. The next week we delivered 2 pallets of liter bottles to the store. It was also the first Friday of the month when people came in to cash their assistance checks. I dragged the pallets out on the floor in front of the liquor department and simply cut the tops off the boxes.
A sign was placed in the middle of them which read "Wild Irish Rose GREEN APPLE! Exclusive vendor pricing $1.90 a bottle!" I hadn't even got the sign centered and the first 2 or 3 boxes were empty. The following Monday he placed another order to replace the 2 pallets (1 pallet = 72 boxes of 12 bottles each) which were gone by mid day Sunday.
Lesson learned? Regardless of the situation there is money to be made. While I didn't enjoy the idea of people spending money on booze rather than food or clothing its a reality in certain parts of the world. There was nothing I could do to sway that opinion and effect a change for the hundreds of people buying my products. So, if they're going to buy it anyway...why not buy it from me?
By working with the manager and gaining his trust I was able to ask what may have been the largest liquor order in the stores history. The sale pricing made them money in volume but the pricing had never been seen by their customers. The "exclusive" phrasing on the sign, while true for a very short period of time, created a sense of urgency. Customers who liked it told their friends and brought in new business to the store.
Going forward I was the "go to" liquor rep when it came to new products and support with advertising prices. I was also able to ask for favors with meeting sales quotas by shipping in a few cases here and there when needed.
What exactly is a "Sales Ronin"?
Trying to find a unique name for a blog dealing with the subjects I'd like to talk about is a challenge. Years ago I fell in love with the story of the 47 Ronin. (before the movie came out) I came very close to naming my business development firm Ronin but was talked out of it by a consultant I knew.
The story of the 47 Ronin is pretty powerful and worth doing your own research. However, here is the cliff notes version.
A great master was teaching a pupil who was the son of a lord. The pupil was insolent to the master and the master struck him. As punishment the master was ordered to commit Sepiku (ritualistic self disemboweling). The masters 47 Samurai became Ronin, master-less samurai. The lord feared the retaliation of the Ronin so he ordered them hunted down and tripled the guard on his home. The Ronin went into hiding for 2 years. Posing as everything from farmers, innkeepers, drunks, vagrants etc. Two years later the Ronin unearthed their weapons and raided the lords home at night. They cut off his head and placed it on the grave of their beloved master. All 47 Ronin turned themselves in and committed Sepiku in keeping with the Bushido order.
So why name a blog after this gory tale from ancient Japan? The story of the 47 Ronin is a story of loyalty and honor at all costs. In my sales career I've often felt like these Samurai. Highly trained and a master of my own environment. I adapted and overcame virtually every obstacle put in front of me.
However, after pouring my heart and soul into my work I found myself without a company that supported me. I was turned out much like the Ronin were when their master was killed. So I find myself walking the earth with a great depth of skills and training but alas...no master to work for.
When I interview with a company the recruiter is usually amazed at the wide range of things I've done in my career. As a man with a BA from an Art School I've sold everything from liquor to stocks and bonds. Becoming a "social chameleon" and adapting everything about me to help me sell and market myself better to the audience at hand.
So why, after all this time, start a blog? For years I dismissed the idea that anything of real value can come from a blog. Lets face it, you don't need to be qualified in anyway to start a blog and post it for the world to see. However, I recently decided that as a "Sales Ronin" I have a myriad of experiences and lessons learned that may help someone else. I have the unique position of becoming the teacher for the sales Samurai of the future.
In this blog I'll cover anything and everything I know about sales and marketing. I'll do my best to keep it light and worth the read. At the very least I'll get this material out of my mind and on paper for when I go senile in years to come.
Hope you enjoy it!
- Justin
The story of the 47 Ronin is pretty powerful and worth doing your own research. However, here is the cliff notes version.
A great master was teaching a pupil who was the son of a lord. The pupil was insolent to the master and the master struck him. As punishment the master was ordered to commit Sepiku (ritualistic self disemboweling). The masters 47 Samurai became Ronin, master-less samurai. The lord feared the retaliation of the Ronin so he ordered them hunted down and tripled the guard on his home. The Ronin went into hiding for 2 years. Posing as everything from farmers, innkeepers, drunks, vagrants etc. Two years later the Ronin unearthed their weapons and raided the lords home at night. They cut off his head and placed it on the grave of their beloved master. All 47 Ronin turned themselves in and committed Sepiku in keeping with the Bushido order.
So why name a blog after this gory tale from ancient Japan? The story of the 47 Ronin is a story of loyalty and honor at all costs. In my sales career I've often felt like these Samurai. Highly trained and a master of my own environment. I adapted and overcame virtually every obstacle put in front of me.
However, after pouring my heart and soul into my work I found myself without a company that supported me. I was turned out much like the Ronin were when their master was killed. So I find myself walking the earth with a great depth of skills and training but alas...no master to work for.
When I interview with a company the recruiter is usually amazed at the wide range of things I've done in my career. As a man with a BA from an Art School I've sold everything from liquor to stocks and bonds. Becoming a "social chameleon" and adapting everything about me to help me sell and market myself better to the audience at hand.
So why, after all this time, start a blog? For years I dismissed the idea that anything of real value can come from a blog. Lets face it, you don't need to be qualified in anyway to start a blog and post it for the world to see. However, I recently decided that as a "Sales Ronin" I have a myriad of experiences and lessons learned that may help someone else. I have the unique position of becoming the teacher for the sales Samurai of the future.
In this blog I'll cover anything and everything I know about sales and marketing. I'll do my best to keep it light and worth the read. At the very least I'll get this material out of my mind and on paper for when I go senile in years to come.
Hope you enjoy it!
- Justin
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