REAL WORK

I sell stuff. Most of my life I have been in the process of influencing others to do what I think is best. It took me until I was about 35 years old to realize that I should be a Salesperson. At that point, I had a good middle management job with hundreds of people working for me. I quit to go sell food.

In the business of selling, there are too many people who talk about selling and too few who really know how to do it. I think I know how to sell almost anything, but I could be wrong. I am SURE I know how to sell food to Restaurants and I really like to do it. My wife, Pam, is better at selling than me. She can talk with the toughest Buyer or Chef and win their trust. Pam is real. She is genuine and buyers can see this quality in the first five minutes of talking with her.

Today, I left my Office to go sell with a Distributor Salesperson named Jake. It was great to hang around out by the Dumpster, waiting for the time to go see the Buyer. We walked in and went into the kitchen. This is a place that few customers ever get to see. Then back, through the storeroom, and to the area the Chef calls his "Office."

The Chef was a Japanese man who spoke only limited English. I was there to show him two kinds of shrimp. I handed him my card with two hands and bowed slightly. He nodded his head and accepted me. We sold him a case of shrimp and I think he will become a long term customer for the Distributor. It was only one case of shrimp, but it felt good to be back in the mix. Jake was glad I was there to help him discuss shrimp. In the process, I helped him with salad oil too. It was real work, like back in the good old days. It almost made me want to head over to 7-11 in Eureka for a Hot Dog. Man those were the days.