In my involvement with The Sales Centre (which has gotten a lot of action in my blog lately) I have the opportunity to meet with executives almost every week.
It’s a fantastic opportunity for me to learn from these executives, but my role, at the end of the day, is to tell them why investing in The Sales Centre is the best recruiting move they could possibly make. I, along with three other fantastic, motivated, dedicated students, essentially pitch the value of our organization to companies that fit well with our self-funded program.
We had a sales call last night, and it went very well. I had a great team helping me out, and I was very happy with how the call went.
Once my portion of the race was over, I passed the baton (and our potential client) off to two more terrific sales candidates to finish off the evening at dinner.
About fifteen minutes after our call, I received a text asking me to check on our client’s car. He remembered parking on the street in front of a meter that had a bag covering it. Normally, those bags aren’t much of an issue. The Athens Meter Maid Society has a tendency to put those plastic yellow slippers over top of the change collectors long before the spots are needed.
As many of you may know, yesterday was Election Day. Our client was parked just outside of the Athens County Board of Elections—the office where all of the ballots were being delivered and counted.
As I checked on his car, I saw there was a police vehicle with a flurry of patriotic lights letting out a radiant glow over the entire block just behind where our man was parked. A tow truck was hooked up to a car just a space away, and they were calling in the cavalry (read: more tow trucks) to force the surrender of the insurgents (read: tow away every car on the block).
After quickly giving in to negotiations with a cop who wanted to hear nothing about how our client flew in all the way from California to potentially donate money to the only reason Athens still exists (read: Ohio University), I scrambled to call my buddy Stefan who was at dinner with our client. I told him we had mere minutes to move the car before it would be towed away to Where The Wild Things Are (or the boondocks where all towing companies are located so you have time to calm down before you literally explode from frustration of the whole incident. Smart bunch, those towers.)
I sprinted down three blocks in a full suit, skinny tie flapping in the wind, uncomfortable dress shoes hitting the uneven bricks as I pumped my arms in an effort to save the day.
I met our client at the top of our student union, and we hustled back down the three blocks I had just clamored. As we arrived, the driver of the tow truck was putting the final touches on our client’s Fusion—checking to make sure the tires were locked into place and lifting the front of the vehicle into the perfect “I’m-going-to-drag-this-hunk-of-metal-over-ten-miles-away-and-absolutely-rip-you-off-to-when-you-ask-for-it-back” position.
Luckily, we stopped the driver before he took off. He happily lowered the car for the one-time, ultra-low payment of $45 for merely jacking the car up (but we got a free book light!), and we drove away happily ever after (or at least to a safer spot on campus).
If you’re still reading, you’re probably wondering, what’s the moral of the story?
I’m glad you asked, friend.
If I wasn’t committed to The Sales Centre and giving our potential customers the best experience, I wouldn’t have checked the car, and I certainly wouldn’t have run down the street like I was James Bond trying to stop Dr. No from taking over the US Space program.
What are the things in your life that you are committed to? How dedicated are you? To what lengths are you willing to go to show your commitment?
I won’t claim that I’m dedicated to anything in my life if I’m not willing to sacrifice for it—first and foremost for my faith, and then my friends and family, and then my organizations.
Going above and beyond to show your commitment to a cause is more than doing what’s expected. It’s about running down the street in a two-piece suit for a cause.