Taking the Sales Person Out of the Sale

Today, without lifting one finger, I got a sale! While I was having lunch with a member of my Board of Advisers, in the very same restaurant a couple other people were recruiting a student for an upcoming class. Why would they do that?

These two people are grads of the Certified Networker training program. They have learned the value of helping others first and thinking of others before they think of themselves. One player in the scenario, Joani Algiere, is a massage therapist and she is about to sit for the Director training at the upcoming BNI conference in Phoenix. Her goal in life is to help others to be more successful with their businesses. She helps people find an open slot in a BNI chapter, she recommends networking events, she invites people to these events, and she helps them to get better connected into the community. Joani knows that when people are more successful, they will have money to spend on massages. She has a clear understanding of the old adage of “what goes around comes around.”

Jeff LaCourse was also in her lunch group. He is a lender for Alliance Venture Mortgage, and is also becoming a Certified Networker trainer. The third person at lunch was a young Realtor who wants to start a new BNI chapter. Joani was introducing Jeff to the Realtor so the two could think about doing the BNI chapter project together. Both Joani and Jeff knew that the Realtor would be more successful in his career and in establishing a new BNI chapter if he could have the networking and referral based education provided by Certified Networker. Because neither had a direct gain from him taking the course, he really didn't feel pressured. He just saw opportunity. And that's how I got a sale without even knowing it was happening.

What is the best story you have of someone presenting you with a closed deal?