As someone who believes selling is a noble endeavour, and as a proud dad, I was thrilled when my boys decided to get out on the street and try selling their art this past week. They were fired up and excited to have someone walk by, love their art, and buy it on the spot. Their enthusiasm quickly faded however, as they realized this was going to be tougher than they thought. This whole “selling” thing was a lot of work and not as quick as you’d think. To their credit, they stuck with it. I watched from the window and encouraged them. Finally, I asked if I could give them a few ideas to possibly give them more success. They said, sure dad!

They yelled, they pointed, they made signs, they held up their pictures high for all to see. People looked from a distance, they honked, they complimented the artists, they asked about the price. It was heart warming and interesting to see.

Here are some of the things I learned from my boys this week about selling. Which ones resonate with you?

1. Persistent Smiles are Critical - The boys stood out there for hours working to sell their art. The effort and persistence when saying, “going back out to sell our art some more!” was more than many people will attempt. They also ran back out each day with a smile and made it clear they were enjoying this new game of sales. Are you as persistent and smiling about your product or service today?
2. Make it Clear What You’re Selling - Initially the boys stood outside with their art held up and expected people to know what they were offering or to understand it was for sale. We created signs that said, “Art for Sale” that conveyed the message fast and helped the pedestrian market understand the offer that was being made.
3. Be Bold - Yell it Out! - Standing quietly hoping someone would talk to them didn’t work. The boys had to yell out to people, "Art for Sale!” They held their artwork up to show passing cars, they yelled at people walking their dogs. AND people responded.
4. Don’t Be Hurt When Everyone Doesn’t Buy - My five-year-old took every failed interaction to sell his art as a personal rejection. He thought the art was poor or people didn’t like him. We rallied to let him know, sometimes people who were out walking weren’t ready to buy art. Or sometimes they loved it but didn’t have their wallet. Or maybe they’d be more interested in talking after COVID19. Are you personally upset or offended when people don’t buy from you?
5. Be Ready to Transact - The boys made offers on their art, “$1 for mine,”  "$2 for mine!” But people didn’t have cash. We quickly offered to take credit cards. We offered to do a trade. We offered to have them e-transfer money later. The boys learned fast that you can’t be stuck to your preferred way to transact (cash) and you need to adjust to how the market can pay.
6. Support Your Team–Sell as a Team - The boys quickly realized that saying, “No, look at my picture” and fighting for visibility and attention turned people off. As they came around to working together, giving the customer the chance to see all the art and to decide for themselves, things worked better. Are you working with your team to show the client all the options available to them? Do you ever work with suppliers and vendors to offer more options?
7. Have Fun Until It Isn’t and Stop - Their energy and enthusiasm carried the boys a long way and kept them pitching and presenting for hours. But, when that energy wore off, I encouraged them to take a break and go back at it later. They returned the next day, all fired up and ready to sell their art again. All of us need to remember that selling and representing our services and products can become a little draining. Step away for a break or for a day so you can come back to it with energy and enthusiasm.

When you look at selling from the perspective of a child, it gives a fresh look at where adults sometimes get lost. How are you positioning yourself these days? Are you still smiling? Are you trying to get noticed? Are you adapting to new ways of doing business? Are you working as a team?
Share your thoughts below!

These are challenging times. Few business owners have been through something like we’re experiencing today and had their business come out strong on the other side. Do you know what it feels like to have your business challenges completely consume you?  I do. I know the struggle first hand, and I made it through to the other side.

In 2010, I took over a publicly-traded marketing and advertising agency called Rare Method.  Rare was locally famous for its work and reputation.  It had worked on major accounts across Western Canada and as far away as Hawaii through our Salt Lake City office.

Unfortunately, as the recession of 2008-2010 took its toll on marketing and advertising, it took a very heavy toll on Rare.  The company was losing good staff, cash and customers on an almost daily basis.

The quarter before I became the new interim CEO, the company had lost $993,000 –In one quarter!
I got into the operations and realized quickly that my titanic of an agency wasn’t just taking on water, but it was also on fire. People were jumping into the water without life rafts and the lights were flickering—I froze.

There were so many problems and challenges, I was unable to determine where to focus and what to fix first.  Outwardly, I talked a good game but internally I was confused and torn about where to start.
By the end of the first week or two, I knew I needed to step into more leadership and make some announcements to start to shore up the ship.

I started with the people.  They had been leaving regularly on their own.  Many had also been laid off with ceremony.  I gathered the people and told them my first commitment was to them.
Without them, we wouldn’t have a business. There were no additional layoffs planned I announced and I would tell them, well in advance, of anything like that into the future.  I promised to share more information about the business with them.  I said we were going to start to pull together.

Then I started to call and meet with clients.  As our people left and departments got scrambled, client delivery suffered. Contacting clients gave them a chance to vent, and gave us a chance to rebuild rapport.  I talked clients into giving us another shot; one more campaign and to watch and see how we adapted.

As I shored up staff and clients, I had to look at costs and expenditures too, but not before the people.  As a fresh set of eyes to our expenses, I could see all sorts of places where we spent money and needed to stop.  We turned things off, we cancelled services, we sold equipment and negotiated hard with every vendor and our landlord.

I had inherited a team and didn’t know the dynamics of the people or the culture yet.
The culture on the wall was “something a former CEO loved but no one really buys it”.  I had people that quietly undermined me—smiling as part of our management team and then working against my instructions or dismissing my leadership to others.  It took months to finally create a team that was moving forward with me.

To top it all off, the finances of the business were in a tailspin.  We had payables that were 3.5 times the receivables. We had money owing that we struggled to collect and as I hatched a financing plan, RBC moved from $1M line of credit down to $150,000 ... I was already $138,000 into it and it annihilated my lifeline.

The stress of keeping people employed, clients engaged and paying, managing the finances with no support, and appearing positive and focused, was overwhelming.  I lost weight.  I had insomnia.  I developed stomach and digestion issues.  I had dizzy spells.  And I hid it all.  I needed to demonstrate strength and resolve.  But it was taking its toll.

I eventually realized I was not going to sacrifice my own health and well-being for any company.  So, I started going for walks at lunch.  I took up meditation to quiet my stressful mind.  I made time to eat.  I felt marginally, but increasingly better each week.

Then, I made difficult decisions to get the business to profitability.  We cut staff to a level we could maintain.  We worked to move the company to private from its public entity.  We negotiated hard with payables and accounts.  We had to find a path to survival.

In the end, with many bumps, we privatized the business.  It was still not ideal but moved us to a new stage and a new lifeline. We started to acquire new accounts and get back out into the market without depending on our old reputation. My motive was to keep going.  To make the tough decisions that were necessary because many people depend on the business owner, staff, clients, vendors — a whole community of people.  Sacrificing one account or one person to save the overall operation and team was a new commitment.  I focused on getting through the next week, with an eye on the horizon and the potential for the future.

The end game was that we were approached for acquisition and I made the difficult, yet gratifying, decision to sell the business.  It was the best decision at the time and while there were unavoidable losses, there were also wins: a forging of lasting friendships, a legacy of great work, a challenge that made people better at what they do, and many lessons (life and business) that could only be taught through the experience. 

It is an experience I don’t need to repeat, but one I am thankful for now.  I am a better entrepreneur and coach because of it.