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| "This Book Changed My Whole Outlook On People & Their Motivations... | " |
I at one time owned a window washing business. I was introduced to the industry by a man well versed in the art of sales. He always stressed that it wasn't so much how well you washed windows, but how well could relate to and befriend your clients.
I didn't trust that outlook... I figured that it was completely based on how comprehensive your service was. Did you leave an inordinate amount of smudges and streaks on the windows? Did you wash every window that was mentioned in your contracts? Did you leave water on the floor or treat store patrons rudely?
Without a doubt, these examples above are an integral part of a successful window washing business but I would say it only accounts for twenty-five percent of your actual duties. The other seventy-five percent is based on people skills.
I had worked with my sales mentor to get his own window washing business off the ground. Everyday, we would go to various storefronts and office buildings and solicit work. Sometimes we would reverse roles in where I would appear to be the sales manager and he would record information.
It took me a while to catch on to sales... I thought there was a very rigid formula for success. So I went with a war-bent attitude to conquer as many accounts as we could handle. In a very grim and frank way I asked to speak with store management. Never with a smile on my face - I thought "these people are professionals, they don't want some happy-go-lucky kid trying to sell them a service."
So after a year or so... I went off to start my own business. As a sign of gratitude for helping start my mentors own business, he put together a little bundle of sales tools for me. Within the various binders and sales journals - there was a paperback book entitled: How to Win Friends & Influence People.
