The Sales Trainee

A young guy from New Jersey moves to California and goes to a big "everything under one roof" department store looking for a job. Instead of going to the Human Resources Department, he asks to see the store manager. He tells the manager that he wants a sales job: He can quickly determine if a shopper is a real buyer, and he can close most of the Buyers.

The manager says, "Do you have any sales experience?"

The young guy says, "Yeah, I was a garden equipment salesman back home in New Jersey."

Well, the manager liked the way the young guy spoke, so he offered to put him on trial for a few days as a Sales Trainee. "Start tomorrow. Just report to the floor manager on level one. I'll come down after we close and see how you did."

His first day on the job was rough, but he got through it. After the store closed, the store manager came down. "How many sales did you make today?"

"Just One."

The boss says, "Just one? Our salespeople average 20 or 30 sales a day, with an average gross of about $1,500 each. How much was your one sale for?

The new guy says, "$111,447.23."

"Over one hundred thousand dollars? What the heck did you sell?"

"First, I sold him a small fishing hook. Then, I sold him a large fishing hook. Then he bought a new fishing rod and reel.

When I asked him where he was going fishing, he said, "down off of Costa Mesa". So, I asked him if he wanted to have his own boat down there. He said 'Yes,' so we went down to the boat department and I sold him that twin engine 21 foot Starcraftt with a trailer.

But, his Honda Civic couldn't pull the boat, so I took him down to the automotive department, where he traded in the Honda on a 4X4 Chevy Suburban."

The manager said, "A guy came in here to buy a fish hook and you sold him a boat and SUV?"

The new Senior Sales Representative says, "No ... I forgot about the Tampons. He came in to buy a box of tampons for his wife, and I said, "Well, your weekend is shot, how would you like to go fishing?"

Hopefully, you're smiling. Now, think about it: Wouldn't it be great if you could learn to spot a Dream Prospect like the one in the story? Fewer sales with much higher Gross Revenues sounds good, doesn't it?

It's time to stop daydreaming, and time to learn how to sell like our young hero. Get started NOW!

Jacques Werth, High Probability Selling - All rights reserved.

Jacques Werth, author of "High Probability Selling," is an internationally respected Sales Trainer and Sales Consultant. HPS graduates are excelling as Top Producers in over 70 industries. Visit http://www.highprobsell.com to read more articles, preview the book, and learn more about High Probability Selling.

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