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How a terrified brewer sold 25 cases in 10 minutes...
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If you’re feeling stuck, then read this short story from Michael Masterson’s Ready, Fire, Aim: “Years ago, when The Boston Beer Co. was just getting up and running, I received a phone call from my uncle, a partner at Goldman Sachs and one of my initial financial backers. He asked me how things were going. Fine, I replied; the first batch of Samuel Adams beer was aging in tanks and would be ready for delivery in about five weeks. ‘So,’ my uncle continued, ‘what did you do today?’ I told him I’d spent the day shopping for a computer system. When he asked me why, I explained that I figured I’d need a computer to keep track of sales, payables, and the like. ‘Oh yeah,’ he said, ‘sales. By the way, have you got any?’ I admitted that I did not… ‘So what the hell are you doing buying a computer?’ he demanded. ‘You know I’ve seen a lot more businesses go broke because they didn’t have enough sales than I’ve seen go under from lack of computers. Why don’t you work on first things first?’ That shook me up. My uncle went on to describe his early days at the investment firm...how frightened he had been then to have to make cold calls on potential customers, how he had forced himself to set a quota of at least one new account a week, no matter how many calls it took. Listening to him, I realized that somehow I had gotten the whole process backward. To make my business viable, the first thing I needed was not a computer. It wasn’t even an office or a desk. What I needed was a customer… That call really galvanized me… I was determined to follow my uncle’s example and go for an account a week… but when the morning came to go out and do it, I didn’t want to get out of bed. Finally, I picked out a bar near my office… and, wearing my usual dark pinstriped suit, walked in with six cold bottles of Samuel Adams beer in my briefcase and a lump in my throat. There was a guy behind the bar whom I assumed was the bartender. As it turned out, not only was he merely the barback (the guy who stacks glasses, keeps the shelves filled, and so on), but he didn’t speak English. He looked at me as if I had two heads. While I stood there talking about my beer, the manager walked over and eyed me suspiciously—he probably thought I was from the IRS or something. Anyway, I went through my story one more time and asked if I could pour him a glassful. He looked at my beer, sniffed it, drank it and immediately gave me an order for 25 cases. It was an amazing feeling… In the space of 10 minutes, I went from sheer terror to ecstasy.” That last sentence is the important part. All you need is one customer today to go from sheer terror to ecstasy. So what're you waiting for?
All you need is one. Ciao, Parker |
The Story
Grab attention, monetize, and persuade with Storytelling Every Thursday you'll get one story and writing tactics in 5 minutes. This is the FREE newsletter that 50,000 follower accounts read.
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