THE PARABLE OF THE HOT DOG

This is one of my favorite sales meetings. In today’s economy, more than ever before, the messages are loud and clear. Read on;


THE PARABLE OF THE HOT DOG

There was man who lived by the side of the road and he sold Hot Dogs. He was hard of hearing so he had no radio. He had trouble with his eyes so he read no newspapers, nor did he watch television. But he sold good Hot Dogs.

He put no signs on the highway telling how good they were. He stood on the side of the road and cried ""Buy a Hot Dog Mister?"" And the people bought. He increased his meat and bun orders. He bought a bigger stove to take care of his trade. He finally got his son home from college to help him.

But then something happened......

His son said, ""Father, haven’t you been reading the newspaper? There is a big depression on. The European situation is terrible, the domestic situation is worse. Everything is going to pot.""

There upon the father thought, ""Well, my son’s been to college, he reads the newspapers, he listens to the radio, he watches the television and he ought to know."" So the father cut down on his meat and bun orders took down his advertising signs and no longer bother to stand out on the highway to sell Hot Dogs.

And his Hot Dog sales fell almost overnight.

""You’re right son,"" the father said to the boy. We certainly are in the middle of a great depression.""

There are many obvious messages in the Parable of the Hot Dog, and I am sure that you can figure them out for yourselves. If not send me an e mail, the link is below, and I will cover them with you.

The message I want to deliver today is not as obvious. Look back at the story, every day the old man did what he knew to be good for his business. Then after getting what we see as bad advice, he changed his recipe for success. He stopped putting out his sign, he cut back his inventory, he stopped calling to the cars as they drove past. As we know from the Parable, his business went downhill.

My message to you is simple. This isn’t the time to be cutting back. I talk to reps everyday that tell me they make half the sales calls a day that they did as little as a year ago. When I ask why, I am told to “SAVE MONEY”. Save money? Don’t you need to have money to save money? How can you have money if you are not working?

Don’t get me wrong, I am not implying business as usual, we all know that in these times it is anything but usual. However I am saying WORK as usual. Customers deserve the same level of service as they have always gotten. They know what is going on, and I am sure most would understand and accept a drop in service because of the relationships most reps have with their customers. But it is a fact that the reps that maintain the same level of service during the hard times as they do during the good times are the reps that will grow and will be around for years to come.

As sales reps keep this last saying in mind;

YOU CAN’T SAVE YOURSELF INTO PROSPERITY; YOU CAN ONLY SELL YOURSELF INTO PROSPERITY!

Lorin