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- LSJ - Would I Buy That?
Hi Everyone,
Happy Friday! Thanks for spending part of it reading The Lake Street Journal.
This week we’re talking about Bill Rosenberg’s sales skills, David Senra, and a post-literate society. Let's get into it.
Would I Buy That?
Bill Rosenberg, the Founder of Dunkin’ Donuts, was a great salesman long before he sold his first Boston Kreme.
Bill dropped out of school in 8th grade to help support his family during the Great Depression. After delivering telegrams for $15 a week, he joined Simco and began selling ice cream from a truck for $30 a week.
During the winter, business dried up. Nobody buys ice cream in Massachusetts in March.
So Bill’s boss decided to start a vending machine company, and Bill was responsible for getting it off the ground.
They planned to install vending machines in the factories around New England, but they needed permission from the factory owners first.
“In the beginning it took a lot of nerve to go into a big factory,” recalls Bill. “The first time I must’ve driven around the block six or seven times before I got up the moxy to park and go inside. I went in and asked to see the industrial relations man, he was the vice president. I sat down and explained to him why, in my opinion, he should install the vending machines. He didn’t have any at the time, and I told him how it was an advantage to the employees and no cost to him and how we would pay him two percent of gross sales. I sold him the account.
I learned an important lesson about sales: You don’t sell to people. You get people to buy from you. You say to yourself, ‘If I were in their position, why would I want to buy this product that I have to sell? If I was in their position, why would it be to my benefit?’”
David Senra shared this story on an old podcast episode about Rosenberg.
As Senra has learned from reading biographies of more than 400 entrepreneurs, people are self absorbed. They don’t care about you or your company, they care about what you can do for them. So that’s where you always start.
It’s true as an entrepreneur selling products to customers, and it’s true of leaders too.
This idea that Senra talks about—people being self absorbed—that’s not unique to the context of buying products. It’s universal. It’s a law of human nature.
People usually act in their own self interests, so if you want to lead them in a particular direction, you need to explain how it benefits them.
Hitting specific sales targets will earn you a specific commission.
Earning a certain number of 5-star Google reviews equals a specific bonus.
Keeping the job site clean results in more referral business which means more overtime hours.
As a leader, you’re not selling your employees on an action, you’re getting them to buy an outcome. An outcome that benefits them and moves the team toward the goal you’re trying to achieve.
It may not be sales in the conventional sense of the word, but it’s the same thing Bill Rosenberg was doing with those vending machines—leading people exactly where he wanted them to go.
Speaking of David Senra, he was on the Tim Ferriss show this week, and it didn't disappoint. It was the best TF episode I've listened to in a long time.
If you've been reading the LSJ for a long time, you know I listen to every interview Senra does. If you care about business, entrepreneurship, and leadership, you'd be crazy not to.
If you're new to Senra, here's the short version. Every week, he reads a biography of an entrepreneur and publishes a podcast about what he learned. He's been doing this for like 9 years and over 400 episodes. His podcast is called Founders, but if you've never heard of him, start with one of his interviews. This is a good one.
Every time I talk about the value of reading books, I get a ton of positive feedback. You guys love books just like I do, which is probably why you enjoy reading this newsletter.
After last week's issue, my friend Adam sent me this piece which was a nice complement. It's about the frightening trend we're currently following toward a society that doesn't read.
In 1985, the percentage of teens who read for pleasure every day was around 35%. Today, it's less than 15%.
This precipitous decline in reading produces a cascade of negative outcomes, which the author covers in detail.
As he points out, democracy may not survive in a post literate society. And when people stop reading books and only consume short-form videos on social media, we see more atrocities like the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
If our society eventually crumbles, I'm sure this is one of the trends historians will point to as a major cause.
Share this far and wide, and, as always, keep reading.
Workout of the Week
Thanks to my sister for sharing this one.
"Feel the Pull"
15 min AMRAP:
10-15-20-...+5
Calorie row
Hang Power Cleans (95/65)
Do a 10 calorie row followed by 10 hang cleans. Then 15 of each, 20 of each, etc. Add five reps each round until the time is up.
The goal on this one is to get through the row in the round of 30. Good luck!
Quote of the Week
"The hard way is the right way." - Jerry Seinfeld
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Talk soon,
Joe