FLASHBACK TO DICTAPHONES, BRANDED VANS AND FIELD SALES : YOU HAVE TO KNOCK YOURSELF FOR OPPORTUNITY.

Look Around, Look Above, Look Below, Look To The Side Of You.

Just promise me you will look up from the phone sometimes

FLASHBACK: I Was recalling some fond memories of my field sales rep days at Yellow Pages the other day as we were driving down the motorway and countless trade trucks were passing us by. 

I explained to Dean how I would drive with a Dictaphone on my knee as I drove from one client to the next (I probably did about 5/6 hours a day driving time in those days so I had plenty of road time). 

Anyway, to maximise on prospecting time I would switch on my Dictaphone whilst travelling between appointments and read the business names and telephone numbers of the vans, trucks (anything that passed me with business details on the side) into the dictaphone as I drove along. At the end of every day I’d have a good 75-100 potential prospects to pop into my calling list.

I also got very used to working patches too. I remember that I would pull up in Mc Donald’s car park (with my pack of sandwiches- I wasn’t a burger a day kind of girl) and I would be there for the lunch rush … why? Because all the builders and tradesmen in their branded, business detail covered vehicles would be there for their lunch! If I had done an hour at Mc Donald’s I could get a good 150 numbers in that hour alone!

I’m telling you this because every relationship starts somewhere and you really have to look for the opportunity all around you. It exists, everywhere! You just have to be able to put in the work to look for it, to take action and to be consistent.

I was very fond of those days because it was such fun and a real challenge (and achievement) every time I signed a sales docket with an order from something that had started out as a number on the side of a van!

Fast forward to now and think of the opportunity we have everywhere. Social Media makes access so easy. Life makes access so easy (If we look up from our phones every now and then to start conversations!) I am not suggesting you bombard tonnes of people with crappy sales messages and pitches, far from it! What I am suggesting is you do your homework and look for opportunities and start conversations that are meaningful.

Those sales dockets got signed when relationships were formed and those relationships began with a Dictaphone and details from the side of a vehicle.

Start somewhere, opportunity is all around. You just have to go knocking for it!