How did your dad help you become a better salesperson?
As many countries across the world will celebrate Father’s Day this coming weekend, I felt it best to honor all fathers, father figures, and anyone who showed up in your life to somehow make you better at selling.
Many of you might be thinking, “My dad was not in sales and didn’t teach me anything about selling.” Maybe he wasn’t even in a business role in his job. Maybe he was a teacher, a police officer, or some other public service. And you may think you didn’t learn anything about selling from him. After all, “What could a stressed-out air traffic controller teach me about sales?”
Maybe a little more than you think.
First, I want you to think beyond selling skills. Look to your work habits. Look to your ethics and morals that you live by when treating other people. Look at how you respond to stress, dysfunctional people, etc. Think about all the skills, knowledge, and analysis you have to go through to be a good salesperson. Which of those were either told to you by your dad or modeled day after day in your childhood? Kids are like Meerkats. Always watching and observing what parents or siblings are doing. Somewhere in your childhood, your dad displayed his true self. He may have said a lot or very little, but it was his actions that taught you his true feelings.
If you were unfortunate and did not have a father in your childhood, then think back to who may have fulfilled that role for you. Coaches and teachers will often become father figures. While not in your home life, you must have looked up to someone as a male role model.
The Selling Lesson
Selling includes a lot of aspects. The old saying, “Everyone is selling something,” is so true. Everyone is trying to convince someone to do, feel, or become something. Every employee sold the hiring manager on hiring them. Then, at least once a year at their annual review, they sell their manager on keeping them on board. Preachers sell us on how to live a faithful life. Parents are selling their kids on eating vegetables. While kids are selling their parents on eating dessert. The list goes on.
So, whether you are in sales or not – whether your dad was in sales or not – whether you had a dad in your home life or not, all of us can learn from him today. To do that, I want you to answer this question:
What is the one thing you learned from your dad that helped you be a better salesperson?
My personal answer is an easy one to remember. My dad, like many others, did not consider himself a salesman. Quite the opposite. I don’t think he even liked salespeople. As a production supervisor in an airplane manufacturing industry, he was very no-nonsense in his approach to work. However, he accomplished a lot at work and with our family. Raising six kids through the 50s, 60s, and 70s, he had to be. There were more ups and downs than I’m sure he cared to remember. The ups were great. We had a great family and had a lot of fun. The downs were many. Family medical challenges, lay-offs/strikes at work, recession in the 70s, and the fear that at any moment, it could get worse.
The lesson I learned from him was to keep going. Keep trying. It’s never over. It’s never as bad as it seems. This lesson shows up when I’m struggling to find a prospect and get a meeting – when I’m disappointed after losing a customer – when I have to face an upset customer to fix a problem I didn’t cause-when it seems like my sales goals are so far out there that I become discouraged. It’s in those moments that I:
- See my dad getting out of bed to go to work as usual.
- Hear my dad tell me it’s ok to go on having fun and enjoy life after my grandpa passed away.
- Hear him repeat his work ethic philosophy that my siblings and I joked about with him. In the 70s, when work and home life were very difficult for him, he would look in the mirror every morning and tell himself, “Perform you son of a #$%.” While he let us have a lot of fun with his motto, it truly has come in handy during difficult times in sales. Persistence through tough times pays off.
Sales team exercise
So, what about you? What lessons did you learn from your dad? Spend a few minutes today on a fun and helpful exercise with your sales team.
Instead of sending the obligatory happy Father’s Day email, ask them this one question:
What is the one thing you learned from your dad that helped you be a better salesperson?
Even if you are not in a leadership position, you can still initiate this exercise. If too shy to initiate it, then send it to your manager and recommend the team respond by email or jump on a Zoom call.
Extra credit!
For 10 points of extra credit, call your dad and/or your grandpa and tell them your answer. I promise it will make their day (week and month).
For an additional 20 points, call your children and have a one-on-one discussion with them about you and your lessons to them. That will make your day (week and month).
Good luck, and of course,
Happy Father’s Day!
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