The Salesby5 Blog

In the last couple of months, a new restaurant has opened up near my house, Roaring Fork. This restaurant is part of several around the country that have proven to be successful. It is packed everyday by 5 PM and reservations are a must, sometimes days in advance. Each time I visit, we order “The Big Ass Burger.” It is an exceptional burger in a world that’s never at a loss for burgers. Every time I have ordered it, my burger has been delivered to my table overdone or black. Once, I sent a note to Barbara, the general manager, about this reoccurring problem. Every time, they take great care of me and re-cook me a burger that is less done. During my visit last week I asked for Barbara, who had written me a nice e-mail back telling me to please ask for her the next time I was in. This time I ordered a burger medium and it arrived well done. I asked for Barbara and told her about the burger.  She promptly went to talk to the chefs and then returned to comp a meal for three people. Upon my surprise, her response shocked me further. She said, “I know you want to eat here and are one of our great customers. I want you to come back and I have made changes with the chefs to keep this from happening again.” Then she thanked me for my business.

Since then, I have sent many people to “The Fork” and will continue to do so. Why? People, companies, and organizations are going to make mistakes.  The dramatic difference is in how you handle the mistakes.

Footnote: I am a giant burger fan. The two best burgers I have had anywhere are the Americana Gourmet Burger at Papouli’s Greek Grill and the Roaring Fork’s Big Ass Burger.

If what you sell has a great scent, let your customers smell it.
If what you sell has a great feel, let them feel it.
If what you sell has a great taste, let them taste it.
If what you sell has a great sound, let us hear it.
If what you sell looks great, let me see it.
If what you sell is fun, let me play with it.
If what you sell is fast, let me see how fast.
If what you sell is safe, let me see how safe.

So if you have a service or a product, unwrap it and let your potential customers (fill in the blank) with it. If it is a service that cleans carpet better show me what it will do! If you have great food, let us sample while we are in line or while we wait so we know what to get when we come back! You want us to come back right?

Here’s a great example.  The items below look like a pair of doors.  In fact, these are the Magnepan MG 20.1 speakers that run $12,500.  Many note these as some of the best speakers in the world, but you wouldn’t know it from looking at them.  Your potential customers may be thinking the same about your products and services too.

A story’s competition is a sales pitch. A sales pitch might catch someone’s attention, and if the timing is right, they can be successful. But a sales pitch does not attach itself to someone’s soul, or relate to someone’s troubles.

Great stories have heart. When you share your story or your company’s story, you can reach someone on a personal level. Every great, true story has ups and downs, trials, and victories. When you let someone in on the human element of your company, you can reach them on a deeper level and you’ll be remembered. People like to relate to stories; in a song, a movie, or a book. Why not tell yours, too? Let a potential customer, a blog reader, or a journalist hear your story!

Try telling your story instead of a sales pitch and let us know the results!

Man cannot live without story any more than he can live without bread.
- Dr. Warren Bennis

photo by marklarson

Welcome back for the continuation and ending of Trey’s week at Salesby5.  Here’s how it wrapped up…

So as if this brilliant team of people who came together to complement each other and create an amazingly successful business weren’t enough, Erik also set me up with jobs working for Magi Real Estate, with Louis Pisano and Ryan Harrison (two other brilliant businessmen). Louis showed me the importance of tenant satisfaction and how your attitude can sometimes be the deciding factor on whether your business is profitable or not. He deals primarily with tenant relations and was dazzling with the way he handled his clients. Ryan dealt more with actually finding potential tenants, and is without a doubt a genius among salesmen. He spoke to me with an encouraging and supportive tone and actually offered me an internship for the next summer! Whether that works out or not, I was so pleased that one of the top real estate brokers in San Antonio would consider me for an internship. Observing these great guys and discussing concepts of business with them was an incredible experience in itself. Thanks guys for all of your help, you both were great mentors.

Now for my biggest influence, my uncle Erik Darmstetter, the man that made all of this possible. After living with him and his beautiful family for an entire week and working with him on critiquing my situation in life, he has definitely become a role model for me. I cherish the time I get to spend with him and still wish I had a little pocket bobblehead Erik to carry around for advice, which everyone needs from time to time. Anyone that has met him can understand what I’m talking about. His energy is contagious and he encourages using strengths to guide people through work and life. He seems to have it all, from a successful business to a loving family, and for the simple reason that he loves helping people in need, he decided to share it with me. That is what I determine to be a great man. I try to model some parts of my life from him and give him credit for my newly found ambition for college and success. So thank you, Uncle Erik, Nan, Kya, Q, Ryan, Louis, and the family (Bubba, Devyn and my amazing aunt Ann) for giving me one of the most productive weeks of my life. I hope to someday return the favor.

So what are my plans for the future? I simply want to… “inspire.”

Trey completed his week-long internship at SalesBy5 this past Friday.  Here is the story in his words.

Two weeks ago, my parents would ask me about my plans for the future, concerning college and possible professions, and I would not be able to generate any sort of legitimate response. I was not aware of or concerned with anything besides my present situation. College seemed to me to be a cliché and a pain, which I was considering avoiding… until I had the opportunity to have an inspiring conversation with my uncle, Erik. I’ve always had a relationship with him, due to our family interactions, but never really sat down to talk with him. Within minutes of discussing my life with Erik, he recognized the struggle I was having with taking my life seriously. He then presented me with the opportunity of a lifetime; to come and intern at SalesBy5 for a week. At first, I was concerned I would be wasting a week of my summer to go work for free but after a little debate, I decided I needed the practice.

Immediately after walking into the SalesBy5 office, I was greeted from all directions by Erik and his amazing co-workers, Nan and Kya. Their personalities alone delivered a comfort level cool enough to relax someone going through hell. I was put to work instantly, doing productive things for the company that was surprisingly not mindless busy work (for instance, I was revising and editing client proposals). For the first time in my life, I felt genuinely accepted into an adult environment and I loved every minute of it. Not to mention that Nan hooked me up with an awesome BlackBerry, which I did not want to return when the time came. The SalesBy5 team welcomed me with open arms when I was in a frightening new environment. They introduced me to the concept of following your strengths and how to apply that to my life. Nan, who basically is the coolest computer whiz I have ever met, and his advice—not only on sales and marketing, but also life itself—were an essential part of my learning experience. And Kya was a huge part of the reason I was able to wake up in the morning and look forward to going to work; something the majority of adults would kill to feel. I never saw Kya without a bright smile on her face and something intelligent to say. Sarah rocks too and was very helpful. I didn’t get a ton of time with Sarah, or Q, as they refer to her, but she was equally as appealing as the rest of the crew and a great person to talk to. The SalesBy5 team has the ultimate mix of abilities and personalities that all truly successful businesses should be modeling after.

Come back tomorrow for the rest of his adventures and his wrap up of the week.

Trey and his cousin, Dylan

This was an email that our phenomenal intern, Bobby Freeman, wrote to Erik and us on his last day of service at Salesby5.  He was an amazing asset and we’d be fortunate to have him back.  Bobbs, you are missed.

This summer has been an inspiration to me, and I feel like you and the rest of the Salesby5 team have helped me grow on so many levels. It is amazing the incredible cast of team members you have assembled, and I feel blessed to have been a part of it, even for only a summer. This summer I learned that work and fun can co-exist, and that you can actually be more productive because of it. It is difficult for me to explain to others, and for them to simply understand that I enjoyed working and going to work every day. I can’t remember a day in the office when I was counting the minutes until I could leave, but rather was so confused by how it was 6:30 and I was still in the office. It is an odd feeling to be packing my stuff up and realizing that I will no longer be working for Salesby5. While I know that graduate school is the next step for me, it doesn’t make it any easier to leave a great and dramatically different company.

My Last Week in the Office Thoughts:

• I never realized every shirt I own is a shade of blue, maybe I should test the waters.
• Everyone is so happy because they love what they are doing here, and so do I.
• Grad School is going to be really boring after this!
• How does Nan know all this stuff?
• Erik could sell an Eskimo a snow cone if he got him on a conference call.
• It’s 4:30 in the morning and I am downloading the new Viigo Beta 3.0.111 for my BlackBerry. Has my life become an RSS Feed?
• I’m really going to miss these guys

Thanks Bobby! You inspired us too! It’s amazing to see how much you can impact someone’s life over the course of only two months.  Don’t be afraid to pull people in and let them become a part of your team, even if only for a short time.  Remarkable people always leave a place better than they found it.

An internal study at SalesBy5 from customers, vendors and colleagues has provided us the following:

Most people do not want their cell phone number given out.  Typically they get countless email or phone requests asking for an hour of their time. Others hate email and delete it as fast as it comes in, while some embrace it! So what’s the key in finding a person’s preferred method of communication? Ask! The last resort is to try them all, but you may look like an obsessed boyfriend/girlfriend. Paying attention makes the dramatic difference!

photo by jackhynes

How many of you grew up hearing that statement or something like it?  My dad, trying his best to help, actually got me to do a year of law school.  It was the most miserable year of my life.  Now you have the opportunity to help people younger than you – your kids, nieces and nephews, neighbor’s children - in helping them find their passion.  This week, Erik’s nephew Trey is joining us.  Yesterday, he had the opportunity to sit in on an exciting new potential client meeting and actually make suggestions.  He’s 17!  It’s likely he’ll never forget this week and surely, it will change the course of his life.  He’s getting a crash course in Strengths, what they mean, and why they’re important to his success and happiness.  Certainly, this is time much better spent than cleaning a grease trap at his local fast food joint.  This experience not only feeds Trey mentally, but it also pays us back. His wide eyed curiosity and excitement gives us a quick reminder about how special our lives are in having found such a wonderful place to call our company.  School is starting again soon, which kid can you grab for a day or two and teach? These experiences don’t exist in books; the responsibility resides squarely on your shoulders to introduce the next entrepreneur to the world.  Will you accept the challenge?

photo by euthman

Playing to your strengths, starting daily huddles, and developing one page plans are all habits.  As you probably know, habits take more than a day to form.  Some research says that it can take between 21 to 30 days to form a habit.  Have you been quietly abused for integrating strengths or gotten the evil eye for bringing “one more meeting” to a busy day?  Take heart!  You’re likely within the time frame of a developing habit.  Here’s a tip for you on huddles – make your biggest complainer lead the huddles and require him/her to make them amazing, without deviating from the framework.  Come back to the comments (after 30 days) and let us know how it worked out.

photo by katerw

Yesterday, we ate at Red Robin. They have an amazing culture and really go above and beyond to make you feel welcome and make your dinner experience great. My favorite part is the Unbridled Acts of Kindness stories on the back of the bill holder. The Unbridled Acts talk about how Red Robin teams from around the country have gone above and beyond during the course of their days. At Sales by 5, we do the same. We celebrate our “Love Letters” from our clients during our morning huddles and weekly meetings. Then, we post them on our Wall of Fame to further recognize how our team has done amazing things, ready for review by the team, our clients and visitors. Red Robin, like Sales by 5, takes the time to do this because the culture is crucially important and visitors can feel it. Unfortunately, most companies do not experience this. You have a culture whether you realize it or not, is it one that you want to celebrate?

So how can you start?  Develop your set of core values, so that the team knows what’s important to the team.  Integrate compliments into your daily huddles and celebrate them – large and small.  Develop quarterly themes that support these compliments.  Once you’ve done this, come back and tell us how your company was transformed!  Need help? Check out Mastering the Rockefeller Habits by Verne Harnish for more details.