I have a confession to make.
Many years ago, I demanded a certain percentage of a job for which I hired a friend. I insisted on getting 10% of the overall pay.
“Ben, shovel the walk. I’ll collect the money.”
“Why can’t I collect it?”
“I need to take 10% of the pay. I promise I’ll give you the rest.”
“But I’m doing the work.”
“But I’m the one who got these people,” I explained.
I had just told a billionaire off. But he went along with my plan anyway.
OK. Ben was not a billionaire at the time. But he became one. We we only around 12 and 13 years old then. The customer was on my paper route. The job was shoveling their snow for $5.
Ben did the job, and I gave him his $4.50 cents. Later, he went to a fine college. Then he got into banking, working for some of the big companies on LaSalle street in Chicago. Shortly afterwards he started his own financial services company. Now he’s a billionaire.
Ben is not his real name. He keeps a low profile. I want to respect that. Also, I don’t want everyone bugging me for a job at his company.
The point of the story, is that what I had that day, long ago, was something precious. I had a reputation as a good paperboy.
My customers knew I could flip the paper at 7 a.m. on their porch, making sure it landed on a dry spot if it threatened rain.
So they trusted me to shovel their snow.
Ben learned a lesson that day, too. He took the experience in, as well as a lot of other knowledge, and turned it into a well-respected company with more than four hundred employees.
What lesson do we get from this?
A marketing consultant once told me that there are three requirements to making a sale, any sale:
- Credibility
- Trust
- Intimacy
Those neighbors long ago believed I was capable of both delivering the paper, and shoveling snow. They trusted that I would not rip them off. And I had known them personally, since back in those days we paperboys personally collected the payments.
Ben, if you’re reading this, I want to say I didn’t mean to make you upset. As a matter of fact, if you can find several more clients on your own, I’ll consider making you a partner in my snow shoveling business.
