Are you an Order Taker, or a Pro?

We give this to all of our sales folks & Organized Garage affiliates.

They sell “in the home” , but I think these lessons are widely applicable.

I want to distinguish in your eyes two different people.

One, an “order taker”.

The other - “a sales person”.

The order taker, the man who hands over printed collateral to customers with as much passion as a bird pooping on a statue.

“Jon, these leads are shitty”.

He takes the easy way.

Then there's the salesperson, a crafty bastard, singing our company's hymn, not just selling, but building value before the price tag even enters the picture.

That order taker goes from one appointment to another like a mindless drone on a assembly line.

“They were never going to buy today, anyway”. 

But a salesperson, she's the true artist, playing with the script, experimenting and learning with every house he enters, every deal she closes.

A garage or the driveway is where the order taker chooses to recite his monotone script - the customer thinking “Can we just get this over with - how much is this going to cost me?”

But the salesperson, that charmer, she knows the real deal is struck at the kitchen table, where the family's soul resides, where the real business of the family is done.

The order taker reads “the script” verbatim, like a 2nd grader reciting an essay in front of his teacher.

“I’m supposed to build rapport, so I guess I’ll just talk about the weather”. 

But the salesperson, the cunning beast, she tweaks and twists, using every visible object to her advantage - from the state of the neighborhood, to the clothes the customer wears, to the bric-a-brac laying around the garage.

An order taker leaves the follow-up in the customer's lap, like a coward ducking responsibility.

“Drop me an email when you are ready to get started”. 

Not the salesperson.

She knows when to seize the reins, to control the rhythm, to choreograph the next moves.

The order taker echoes what the customer claims they need - simple mimicry, nothing more.

“You like baseball? I like baseball too!”

But the salesperson, she reads between the lines.

She knows people don't have a stinking clue what they want, so she's always ready to convert even the most mundane appointment into a big ass sale.

The order taker gets overawed by some mansion, thinking the owner must be smarter than him.

“Running a process won’t work on a person like this, I’ll just follow their lead”.

The salesperson knows better.

Inside that garage, she's the stinkin’ expert.

While the order taker couldn't care less about the nuances of his company’s offerings, the salesperson becomes a disciple at the altar of product expertise.

She's hungry to learn, eager to consult with our experts, and our crews, to become a sage in her own right.

An order taker plays it safe, charges the lowest price possible, because to him, price is the king.

“They said there was a cheaper quote they already got”. 

The salesperson dances with value and differentiation, aims to charge a king's ransom because she knows she's selling not just a product, but an experience.

An order taker, that forgetful fool, barely remembers anything the customer said once he steps out of the garage.

“They’ll reach out if they want to get started”. 

The salesperson?

She's got a goddamned system, a meticulous and disciplined follow-up regime, ensuring she never breaks a promise.

An order taker, all talk and no trousers, would promise the moon but deliver dust.

But a salesperson?

She's a woman of her word.

She only commits what he can deliver.

The order taker tells the customer, "Reach out to me when you want to get started," passing the buck.

The salesperson?

She dares to ask, "What's it going to take to get started today?"

In the end, an order taker is merely a functionary, but a salesperson?

She's a goddamn artist.

Yallah Habibi,

Jon

P.S. No calls - still living the European life.

Passage of the Week:

Context: This is from my Grandpa (who happened to be a hell of a sales guy), in a note to me after a wrestling match when I was young (Bruce is my dad - who I now work with. Three generations and counting).