What 2 Stray Dogs Taught Me About Selling
Don't sell. Get hired.
My wife, myself and our dog went camping in the rolling hills of northern Tennessee for a long weekend.
It was at the end of a quarter, so we retreated to nature for some peace, quiet, solitude and reflection.
A time to think about what’s going well in our lives, what’s not going so well and what changes we want to make moving forward.
Plus, we just wanted some intimate, distraction-free time together.
The campground was nice.
One of those boujie get-ups with a cool portable tiny cabin on it.
We pulled in the first night, found our tiny cabin, made a fire and cooked dinner.
I remember sitting in our lawn chairs with a fire crackling in front of us, our dog sprawled out on his bed and watching the sun paint the sky a vibrant orange as it set behind the clouds.
It was a lovely night.
The following morning I got up, made some coffee and was surprised to find my dog frantically pacing to go out the door of our tiny cabin.
As a reference - my dog is the laziest morning animal I know.
He LIVES for cuddling with my wife and sleeping in.
So this was unexpected behavior.
As I cracked the door open he tried to bolt outside, so I put down my cup of coffee and grabbed him by the collar.
My “something is off” senses were tingling at this point.
So I pulled my dog away from the door and went outside…
To find 2 emaciated-looking stray dogs glaring back at me.
My first instinct was to freeze because I couldn’t tell if they were dangerous or not.
They were in that low growling position a dog gets in whenever it feels threatened, and I didn’t know what to make of it right out of the gate.
Upon further inspection, it was clear these dogs weren’t dangerous. Merely hungry and somewhat afraid. At some point, they had been healthy and well cared for. Well fed I’m guessing they’d be about 70 lbs. But it had clearly been a LONG time since that happened.
I’m not the most empathic person in the world, but for animals, I’ll do just about anything. I have a huge soft spot for them.
Trying to get them to come over to me was a massive failure. All attempts led to them retreating aggressively back into the woods they had come from.
I even got my dog’s food, put it in a bowl, and attempted to lure them over…
STILL NOTHING.
These dogs were knocking on the door of starvation, I was offering them a big bowl of fresh food, and they still wouldn’t come anywhere near me.
It wasn’t until my wife, myself and our dog left our campsite to go on a hike that the dogs ventured over to try some of the food.
They were still cautious, but at least they were eating.
The rest of the weekend I’d leave out a bowl of food for them whenever we went on a hike. Sure enough, I’d come back to find them eating food but as soon as I got within 20 yards they’d bolt.
Given enough time I believe they would have come to trust me, but after a few days, we had to pack up to head home.
I wanted to help more but there was nothing else I could do besides leave a bag of dog food with the campground managers and hope they’d continue to feed them.
What Does This Have To Do With Sales?
As we drove home I couldn’t help but reflect on how much this reminded me of what selling feels like on the internet today.
I have people I desperately want to help. People whom I know I can impact in a massive way. People whose lives would be BETTER if they said yes to working with me.
Yet they act like the 2 emaciated stray dogs. They are hungry, I offer them food but they still won’t come to take a bite.
And honestly, I can’t blame them.
I’ve been back on social media for 2 weeks now and every day I receive multiple unsolicited DMs from people trying to sell me things - “Hey James! It’s Jackoff here from some company you’ve never heard of. We help people like you do something incredible in only 12 short hours. Would you be open to a conversation?”
Sorry.
No.
I’m not open to it.
I don’t know who you are.
And I haven’t given you permission to message me.
Between the unsolicited DMs and the constant barrage of ads hitting people in the face I can understand the hesitancy.
Why trust anyone when everyone is trying to hard sell you stuff?
I’d be lying if I said I haven’t done the hard selling, hard closing tactics in the past.
I have, and frankly, I’m quite good at it.
But it never felt good. Each time it felt like I was creating a Horcrux for my soul.
After my experience with the stray dogs, I think about sales differently.
I view each new prospect and lead I get as that stray dog.
Hesistant and untrustworthy because they’ve been burned in the past.
If I come on too strong, too fast they will run away.
So I need to leave them food, be patient and wait.
I need to INVITE them to have a conversation and take a genuine interest in what’s happening in their life.
I no longer think - how can I SELL this person?
I now think - how can I get HIRED?
Cheers,
James
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