When I was in high school, though, I sold knives door to door for a company called Vector Marketing Corporation that sold Cutco Knives. Despite my dislike for sales in general, I was proud of my position and accelled in it. Why? Well I was proud of what I was selling. I didn’t feel ashamed of selling it. In fact I felt a sort of obligation to sell it. This sense of obligation derived mostly from one encounter I had when I first started selling the knives.The idea behind Cutco is to take people you know, try to sell them the knives and get referrals to their friends, contact the friends and try to sell them the knives and get more referrals. So one of my first customers was one of my best friends father.
I did the demonstration for him and he decided to buy a set of steak knives, but as he was buying them he noted that the only reason he was buying them was because I was a friend of the family. Well about a month after the purchase I saw him again and he began to thank me repeatedly for selling him the knives because he loved using them so much and wanted to buy some more knives.
I feek like this is a fantastic example about how salespeople and marketers have a duty to try and convince people that your product will make their lives better, unless of course if the product will not, in which case they should’nt be selling it.
Ervin on September 2nd, 2005 at 3:03 pm
Actually, I see it as an example of what not to do, ever, to your friends.
I guess my definition for “friend” is different.
Jared on September 2nd, 2005 at 3:21 pm
Dane, glad you appreciated the post. This is a great blog you’ve got here.
In response to Ervin I have to just say that I’m sorry you feel that way. You’re not going to experience much success in business if you’re ashamed to sell something to a friend. The fact of the matter is that I was doing him a great service and to this day he still thanks me as the knives are still treating him very well. Of course had I been able to offer him a discount or even give it to him for free I would have done so as he is a friend.
YoungMiser on September 3rd, 2005 at 7:23 pm
I think it makes all the difference if you are selling a product you believe in. There is nothing worse than having to sell a bad product to someone because it is your job, even though you know the person could get a better deal elsewhere.
Matthew Rankin on September 6th, 2005 at 7:03 pm
I have to agree with YoungMiser, there are too many people out there selling shoddy products. The number one rule in sales is to sell something you would buy yourself! You’ll get the sale more often because people can tell if your being genuine (body language etc.)
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Business Opportunities Weblog en Español | Vender productos de calidad es un deber. on September 7th, 2005 at 3:44 pm
[...] Dan Carlson Cuándo estaba en la preparatoria, vendí cuchillos puerta a puerta para una compañía llamada Vector Marketing Corporation que distribuia los Cuchillos Cutco. A pesar de mi antipatía para las ventas en general, estaba orgulloso de mi posición. ¿Por qué? Bien estaba orgulloso de lo que vendía. Yo no me sentía avergonzado por vender cuchillos. De hecho yo sentía un tipo de obligación para venderlos. Este sentido de la obligación derivó en su mayor parte de un encuentro que tuve cuando empecé vendiendo los cuchillos. La idea detrás de Cutco es tomar a personas que usted conoce para venderles los cuchillos y obtener referencias de sus amigos, contactar a los amigos y tratar de venderles los cuchillos y obtener más referencias. Así que uno de mis primeros clientes fue uno de mis mejores amigos, mi padre. Hice la demostración para él y él decidió comprar un conjunto de cuchillos para carne, pero cuando él los compraba él notó que la única razón por la que los compraba eran porque era un amigo de la familia. Bien, cerca de un mes después de la compra lo vi otra vez y él comenzó a darme las gracias repetidas veces por haberle vendido los cuchillos porque adoraba usarlos y queria comprar algunos mas. Este es un ejemplo fantástico acerca de cómo los vendedores tienen un deber para tratar de convencer a las personas de que su producto le hará la vida mas facil, a menos por supuesto que el producto no sea bueno en cuyo caso entonces no deberias verderlo es tu nombre, tu prestigio, y tu dignidad las que están en juego. Posted by Miguel on September 7, 2005 | 0 Comments In Emprendedores, Dane, Vida Email This Post Possibly Related Entries Inteligencia Competitiva en Ferias y CongresosElementos Básicos Para el Exito de una EmpresaSube tus Precios y Vende MasNo Todos los Negocios son Buenos NegociosVender en eBayIdea de Negocios: Cines Baratos, Atender el Atractivo Nicho del Poder Adquisitivo C y DInicia tu Propio Negocio de Manera CorrectaDesarrollo de Productos y ServiciosFranquicia: Ben & Jerry’sTip de Ventas: Calentar antes de Vender Comments [...]