Stuart R. Crawford

We survived our day in Tijuana and had an awesome experience touring around Northwestern Mexico’s border town with Southern California. What a great experience and lots of learning today as my family and I toured around TJ.

What did I learn?

The art of sales was very clear. These guys that run the small little t-shirt and junk stores that would give Sanford & Son a run for their money are wonderful ambassadors of what they do and with a tonne of competition. Only if IT Professionals approached the clients that they serve in the same manner.  It was funny I actually asked one of the owners of a shop yesterday if he would consider stopping the sales that come into his store, of course he said “Amigo, do you think I am crazy”, sorry that was an inside joke

These guys are hungry to do business and many of the really good ones will invest the time to get to know you, understand what you need, of course, you don’t need anything from these cheesy souvenir shops, however someone of the shopowners are masters at persuasion.  I heard every sales pitch and close statement that I was trainined on presented to me during my time in Tijuana.

Tourist towns are great places to take a sales team to learn the art of sales, this is how the shop owners in Old Town San Diego, Tijuana and even where I come from, Niagara Falls make their living.  They live on selling items to tourists, many items people have no need of and they do not show up on the “want” meter.  Is your product or services a want or a need.

Let’s not kid ourselves, many of us in IT see our services as a necessity for business.  I don’t believe that for a second.  I know lots of businesses that invest very little in IT and do quite well.  They buy their systems from the local “big box” store, set them up and they are able to email, do web business and take care of their clients quite well.  It is our profession as IT consultants that they create the demand for our services, and guess what those firms that understand the art of selling, the art of exceptional service (note, I said exceptional service not just service) and understand that their clients really do need them (expendable) will do fine in business because they understand the core fundamental of business - to create the demand, to deliver services at a much higher level than the other guy and to do whatever it takes to keep their client happy.  You understand this, you will do fine.

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