The head of our commercial team in a previous job was a sales dynamo who had a saying: “A marketer is just a failed salesman.”
In my case, he was right. I bombed out as a salesman several times. For years, I kept these stories a professional secret. My career has been focused on marketing, not sales. I would tell myself, “It’s not part of your narrative.”
Sales and marketing experience driving healthcare innovation
Well, now I have the chance to turn my sh*t performance as a sales guy into rich manure for fertilizing new fields. My intention is to combine the learnings from my sales experience with my marketing expertise to build new connections for healthcare innovation. This year, I relaunched the business to support commercial teams in learning how to generate leads in life sciences. I want to thank the C-suite and commercial leaders who have put their trust in me to make it happen. I invite others to drop me a note if you’d like to learn more.
Electrolux door to door: Sales career lessons for marketing professionals
My first failure as a salesperson came after I lost my dream job in journalism. Just out of college at the time, I was a reporter for the Dennis Bulletin, part of Cape Cod Newspapers in Massachusetts. It was a great gig. But I got fired one December after making several major errors in print, including one that implicated a local official in a conflict of interest. It was not my proudest moment.
You can imagine that jobwise in winter there is not a lot happening on Cape Cod. For a new college graduate with few viable skills, it was dead. But Electrolux was hiring sales reps!
I went on the interview and took the job. It was full commission with equipment and training provided. Little did I know it would be my first sales career lesson as an emerging marketing professional. My manager’s name was Larry. He was the quintessential fast talking sales guy who once ended a rapid fire lecture by saying, “Comme ci, comme ça” (which is French for “so-so”). I think he meant to say, “Capisce” (which is Italian for “do you understand?”). Languages were not Larry’s strong suit, but he could sell a vacuum to Pigpen!
As many piles of dirt as you can
These days, I tell my customers that it is vital to have an offer just to get in the door. I first learned this from Electrolux and have had the lesson reinforced since then. The Electrolux concept was to offer free rug shampoos to homeowners. It worked like a charm. Who doesn’t want a free rug shampoo?
The idea was to collect leads from people who wanted to get their carpet cleaned for free then sell them a vacuum, and maybe even an Electrolux shampooer! For these stealth demos, we used a new Electrolux vacuum equipped with a fabric vacuum bag. First, I swept an area of the carpet using the homeowner’s vacuum. Second, I took out my Electrolux to go over the same area. Third, I opened the vacuum and made little piles of dust on the homeowner’s carpet to show them what their vacuum had missed. The goal was to make as many little piles as you could.
“See all of this dirt you are leaving on your carpet? You are shortening its life span,” I would say. “We recommend a new Electrolux like this to ensure the life of your nice carpet.”
Most of my customers just opted for the free rug shampoo and showed me the door. However, my mother bought an Electrolux from me! So did a guy who had rented his house to a dog owner because he needed a major clean-up for a new tenant. Many demos, two sales. Not great. I was no Electrolux Larry.
No free shampoos, but a few slots open for pilot campaigns
Today, I am no longer offering free rug shampoos. But if you’re a C-suite executive or VP of Sales or Marketing looking for new channels to generate leads and book appointments, Foculus Marketing has a few complimentary slots for upcoming campaigns.
Let us know if you’re interested. And keep it clean out there.