How I Learned to Sell From the Volunteer Fire Department

7/23/2019 How I Learned to Sell From the Volunteer Fire Department

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How I Learned to Sell from the Volunteer Fire

Department

I am from a small town. The denition of "a small town" changes from place to

place. Yet my home town is so small that I made a joke with my European friends

that they could successfully mail me a letter by addressing it simply: nyder

!!# $%.

The local &ost '(ce would know which nyder had friends o)erseas.

*heck out +orth ,ay +Y for yourself- thanks to oogle /aps. 0hen I was growing

up- +orth ,ay was #11 folks in a cluster around four corners: one bar- one

country store- one &ost '(ce and a 0ar /emorial. 0e didn2t e)en ha)e a single

stop light.

Times ha)e changed now...as my family disappears from the area- another

generation of nyders you can now nd in the local gra)eyards. ,ut the lessons I

learned in my hometown stay with me where)er I go.

3or e4ample- my rst e4perience in sales came courtesy of the local 5olunteer

3ire 6epartment. /y grandfather- 3enn nyder- and grandmother- 7arriet- were

acti)e in the +orth ,ay 536. 'ne of my fa)orite memories of my grandparents is

the image of the two of them marching proudly in the 3ield 6ay parades. 7arriet

was four feet ten inches tall and 3enn only a few inches taller but they were

proud as giants of their re department.

That generation took to work like today8s kids take to mobile phones.

3enn was always looking for jobs to pass on to my brother and I. You could say

he couldn8t stand a see a boy just lying around- reading or watching T5. Idle

hands may be a de)il8s playground but the de)il would ha)e had to hustle to

beat 3enn to re9assigning those hands.

https://www.google.com.mt/maps/place/43%C2%B013'48.9%22N+75%C2%B044'53.2%22W/@43.230242,-75.748116,701m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x0




'ften he would dri)e up to our house- toot the horn on aturday morning until

we straggled out of bed- and hijack us for day9long chores such as stringing a

new electric fence- cleaning out stables- or bailing hay.

0hene)er anyone comments on my industriousness- I blame 3enn who passed

away at ;- retired for #1 years but still with three part9time jobs.

It was 3enn who ga)e my brother and I our rst sales jobs. In those days99 before

the insurance industry depri)ed local %merica of its great traditions99e)ery local

community with a 5olunteer 3ire 6epartment had their own "3ield 6ays."

3ield 6ays were the most bonding of community e4periences: the re

department men and women would go all out- pitching tents in a local eld to

host a weekend gathering. 'ur

eld days were always pitched on a grass airstrip that a

local pilot with a single engine ,eechcraft had mowed out

of the green forest that surrounds +orth ,ay. That de9

forested strip- out on Yaeger <oad past the *atholic

church- is still there but you ne)er could tell the

di=erence between it and an empty eld e4cept for

the strategic placement of few orange and white

windsocks.

0hen the 536 took o)er the

eld- there were a half a

do>en tents aptly named to

describe the acti)ities within.

The Beer Tent- which reeked of draft beer- was the largest. The Clam Tent

where you could buy a do>en ?steamers-@ the smallest.

% Food Tent o=ered hamburgers and hot dogs grilled by the 3ireman8s %u4iliary.

%s far as I know- none of the women e)er complained about this description of





their role- a moniker would ne)er pass today8s &olitical *orrectness police

without a citation.

The Music Tent would blare out "their" music- not the upstart <ock and <oll that

we kids were already worshipping in those days. 0e were agog with The Beatles

but the !A;1s 3ield 6ays swooned to Loretta Lynn, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Tammy

Wynette, Gene Pitney, Brenda Lee, Burl Ives, Neil Sedaka, Patsy Cline, Bobby

inton...

%nd the Bing of the <oad- !o"er #iller - whose songs $an" #e and Chu"%a%Lu"

were ,eer Tent fa)orites. 7ere8s a little known fact: /iller8s !! rammy %wards

held the record as the most won by a single artist until /ichael Cackson8s !A#

album Thriller. +ot bad for a guy many might remember only for En"land

S&in"s...

In the farthest corner of the eld was always the much9lo)ed Gamblin Tent.

The o(cial listing was Special !"ents Tent because gambling was illegal- but

we all called it the ambling Tent or 6ice Tent. &oker was not in public )ogue

then. It was all about ?craps-@ a game played on a *hristmas9green felt9co)ered

table on which a shooter prays loudly for a ?D@ or ?!!@ while rolling a pair of red

dice spotted on each of si4 sides with up to si4 white dots.

In this small tent- on the warm e)enings of summer- hard9working men would

rela4 with cigars and plastic pints of beer and holler and scream o)er the craps

table. 'ften their women would be by their side- each called upon as if ady uck

herself stood in a +orth ,ay tent. 0hen the sound le)el mo)ed up with the clock

hours- you could hear the raucous noise on the other side of the town while the

dice rolled on into late night.

3enn appointed us Fmy older brother and IG as o(cial "collectors" of public

donations to the 5olunteer 3ire 6epartment. The job- we were told- was

important to the 536. 0e needed to be present F3riday- aturday and undayG

on the eld to intercept )isitors as they came in from the car parking. "0ould

you like to donate to the 3ire 6epartmentH" we were to ask politely... holding out



in front of us Fnot kiddingG a pro)erbial tin can with a label "+orth ,ay 536"

where it once listed $el #onte Green Peas- 'ein( Baked Beans- or Cam)bell*s

Cream o+ Tomato

%s e4perienced slackers- my brother and I resisted the idea until 3enn added "

and you get to keep !1J of what you collect."

If you took the time to look at the oogle map of +orth ,ay- you can imagine

there wasn8t much opportunity to make money. Ten percent sounded like a

fortune to a young man with a costly addiction to the new /ar)el comic books.

That8s how we found oursel)es- dressed in blue jeans and baseball caps-

standing in the 3ireman8s 3ield 6ays. I think I was !1 years at the time Fand I

ended up doing this job for three yearsG and my brother !#. +o doubt the

remen thought cute little kids might succeed where their own e=orts failed to

collect much in the pre)ious years.

There are a lot of generous souls in +orth ,ay and area... but there are always

those that wouldn8t gi)e e)en if their house was on re. /ost of the generous

ones were already members of the )olunteer re department- while most of the

latter came to the 3ield days late e)ening mainly for the ,eer Tent and the craps

table.

You learn a lot about a town- about adults- in a job where you stick out a can for

a donation. /y respect for the al)ation %rmy has soared since those days.

The rst afternoon we were tentati)e- more ner)ous Flike most youthG about

making fools of oursel)es than our failure to collect. ,ecause it is a small town-

most of the people coming in were people that we "knew" or at least knew their

names.

chool teachers and "rich folk" were always happy to reach in and pull out

change. 3armers in o)eralls would almost walk right o)er you. Young single men



were the worst- often dishing out abuse as they pushed you aside. 3amilies-

particularly ones with kids your own age and in your class- were a gi)en.

You might call it stereotyping- but I prefer to think of it as my rst attempt at

customer segmentation.

/y ne4t obser)ation was that if I wanted to increase my take- I needed to be

faster than my competition- my older brother. I would carefully spot the )isitors

coming in from the car park and race ahead to the ones with money. 3or this- I

still profusely apologi>e to my brother. ,ut to a young boy it seemed as natural

as catching lightning bugs in a jar- or making a pet out of a &raying mantis- or

pinning butterKies so you could ha)e the world8s best butterKy collection. It

seemed like part of the natural order...you outhustled your older brother.

Today you might call that winning market share. %nd- anyways- the older brother

preferred to hang on to his decorum instead of the small change.

0e politely o=ered 3ield 6ays )isitors the tin and our homily. ome people ga)e

small change and some didn8t. The tin wasn8t e4actly o)erKowing after #1

customers and L!1 in change.

It was clear as an empty tin that if you are failing- you need to change approach

and tactics.

It was also clear that "collecting" money only got you so far. I mean- I was a

walking billboard- only distinguished from a collection jar on a countertop in a

country diner by the fact I was mobile. ,y accident- I learned to use that

mobility- to be proacti)e- to engage my customers.

Instead of deli)ering the tepid 536 reMuest- I would engage the )isitor: "7i- /rs.

*ollins...how is your husband doingH Is his back better nowH" I learned to walk

with the customer and not stand still like a mile9marker that could be by9passed.



%nd I learned to change the patter to t the customer. You couldn8t address the

high school principal in the same tone as the town drunk.

0hen I gured out I had to engage people- it was a shorter step to learn I had to

nd out why they resisted donating. I had to answer their unspoken objections.

To the "+o- thank you..." instead of hanging head and mo)ing on...I learned to

probe deeper.

-But &hat i+ your house .at.hes /re one day01

23re you sure you .an4t s)are any .han"e, as the volunteers really need it0-

I also found out that if their answer was- "I am sorry- I ha)e no small change..."

that many would dig deeper if I suggested- "There8s no harm in gi)ing a dollar

bill- you know." % dollar bill was worth a lot more back then- like asking people

for L#1 note today. Yet some people dug into their pockets and purses.

The ne4t day my collection more than lled up the tin can- and e)en 3enn was

impressed.

That bit of success emboldened me further. To people returning to the 3ield 6ays

for a second or third time- instead of skipping them because they already ga)e

or had once said- "+o-" I would engage them and ask again for a donation. o

many people actually ga)e a second or third time- mainly because small change

is small change and the cause was worthy.

'thers who seemed resistant to good causes e)entually ga)e in and donated.

+ot from any charitable impulse- but in reward for my perse)erance. "You are

persistent- aren8t youH" they would comment as they dug into their pants

pockets or purses. "Yes- sir or Yes- ma8am-" I would answer. "It8s a good cause

and my grandparents march for the 536."

+ow- you might think some of my fellow neighbors found me a pest. You8re right.

,ut we8re good folk in *entral +Y and no one held it against me.



I remember some of my neighbors were e)en impressed. It was a lot easier to

nd part9time jobs in the town after they saw me hustle at the 3ield 6ays.

adly- 3ield 6ays are no longer in +orth ,ay99 a )ictim of rising insurance costs in

a society where the re department )olunteers would ha)e to be responsible for

how much a person drinks in a ,eer Tent.

The eld stays empty...yet it always appears mowed... I am not e)en sure who

owns it and why it is mowed these days. 3or me- e)en the empty eld holds

nostalgia...and so I try to pass by it e)ery time when I go "home."

You see- grass isn8t the only thing that can grow on a eld in a small town like

+orth ,ay.

NNNN

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How I Learned to Sell From the Volunteer Fire Department