Sushi originated as cheap fast food outside of Japan by Hanaya Yohei in the mid-1800s. When I met my wife, I was not a sushi lover, but she turned me on to tasting and adoring it. And now, I often take my sales reps out to lunch for sushi.
Have you felt like the plug at the sushi spot? When in public, I’m perceived to be involved with drugs, I sometimes smell like weed, or I can be having multiple phone conversations working on some deals or some combination of the three, drawing attention from eyes.
While my phone conversations are visible, a conversation with a sales rep, sitting across the way is as discrete as hiding drugs from your parents when you were a teenager. Regardless I feel judgment from the time I close my car door to when I walk out, having left a 20% tip. Being judged is alright because it leaves me to thankful, as I spend time with people I care for deeply.
It’s a rainy day in the fall, and the air is crisp. Imagine you are a sales manager sitting at a table, with one of your sales employees, having just sold over a million dollars of your companies products or service last month.
On this Tuesday in autumn, the grind continues with another sales call after lunch. As a sushi fan, you often go back to the same spot near the office, which has never done you wrong. The restaurant seats roughly 30 people at a table and seven guests at the bar. “Is here alright with you?” Your employee confirms the seat selection is good. To get comfortable, you both take out two phones from your pocket plus the tablet you’ve been carrying by hand.
That’s five total devices, five times the data, ideas, contacts, and deals. The people sitting across continues to peek over after every business call, discussing the details of a deal. Welcome to the life of outside sales. When I was 17, I ran a family business and sold weed, and I had the same gracious feeling as being a sales manager. My phone rang a lot, in public and at home. I only sold pot to people I genuinely enjoyed being around, and as an organizational leader, I look for the same treats when hiring.
What a difference 13 years makes, how can you not love sushi? Sushi is excellent and I love, working on projects, and with people, I care to help succeed. Before I was a sales manager, I was in the field as a top performing sales rep and trainer, while also finishing business school.
Today I manage a multi-million dollar sales team while raising millions for Major Bloom. The delegate and precise nature of holding chopsticks provide a foundation to talk business and mastermind while eating. The book, Hiring for Attitude, discusses the importance of hiring people that fit your companies culture. The author anchors stories around the success of Southwest Airlines, interviewing people using a brown shorts method.
Major Bloom will have 20 to 40 full-time employees, and those who make it in for an interview should come prepared!
