"Hi, I'm Tom Bradford, your six-second salesperson!"
I was stunned and quite frankly speechless (a rare condition).
"Your six-second salesperson."
I initially thought this meant he was going to sell me a bike in six seconds. So I did what any salesperson might do. I started calculating commissions in my head.
"What does that mean?" I asked.
He quickly responded. "I am the fourth guy in the world to break the seven-second barrier on a NHRA pro-stock motorcycle, running a 6.98 at 192 mph."
Now, that's interesting. That's an opening you remember.
Far too many salespeople wait in the dealership for their next "up" (I despise this term). Oh sure, they make some sort of half-hearted attempt at "working the phones," but their primary source for business is the walk-in customers. Invariably, the sales manager has to play referee over who talked to whom first, and who sold what, and should we split this deal and how, and on and on it goes.
What if there was a better way?
Salespeople really need to see themselves as their own business operating within an existing business framework. I've written about this often it's called: intrapreneurship.
Salespeople should see business coming to them in two distinct ways: fishing and farming. One is faster and the results are more immediate. The other a bit slower to develop, but it's very reliable. But to do either one successfully, salespeople must have a "brand."
Rate Your Biker-Brand Power
When you walk into a local biker hangout, what happens?
Guess which end of this scale is better? If you're not at least a 5, then you've got work to do.
If you want to make a career (and a decent living) as a salesperson, you've got to start building your brand.
Salesperson Brands
You've got to get creative. Here are some of my favorites.
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Bobby Ross
A customer wrote that he "always gets his bikes at Patriot Harley-Davidson because it's the only place he can get "The Bobby Ross Experience." Now, Bobby puts that on his cards and email signatures.
Bobby Ross: Home of The Bobby Ross Experience.
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Big Show
There was a kid in Ohio who was of large stature and he took to calling himself
"The Big Show."
He would tell customers to come in and see, you guessed it, the big show.
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Jack in the Hat
A guy in a Florida dealership worked with a crew and they all wore baseball hats. Except for Jack. He wore a beret. He told his customers to call and ask to speak to
"Jack in the Hat."
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Lance Orso, Viking
Possibly of Nordic descent, Lance has a great picture of himself wearing a Viking helmet. Now, he's got
a drinking horn and a sword and stalks the sales floor accordingly. I don't know about you, but I'd come in to see that.
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Zack Dodd
At Old Fort Harley-Davidson, Zack Dodd doesn't have the title of salesperson. His title:
Your New Life Coach.
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You
What's your brand? What would make me want to write about
you?
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