Hog Island

                                      

                      I was born in 1976. That same year my Uncle and Grandfather purchased a chunk of land in a town called West Swanton (swae'en to the locals) aka Hog Island. They planted 600 apple trees and the next 22 years of my life were spent growing that little orchard. You see the Bourgeois family always had a business, prior to this little gentleman's apple farm there was a cement block factory for the kids, the idea being we would learn how to work from a young age and grow to appreciate the things that we had. No computers or video games in our homes, you see myself, my brother and two cousins, we had an orchard to take care of and a farm store to run.

I can still remember the first apples we sold there, we had a small store with a roll up garage door and we put out a bunch of half peck bags of our apples, and people came. We processed sales with a calculator and a pen, and we tracked every sale we made this way, and we got paid for it! Sweet! We also had a chance to spend invaluable time with my grandparents along the way learning life's lessons.

After all could there be a better learning experience than a Canadian in a speedo trying to swindle a 12 year old on the exchange rate? Or hearing some truly off colored jokes from the tourists and locals alike that visited our shop? Nope, that was a real eye opener and I learned some great people skills dealing with the myriad of folks that came through the door. I started out as a shy kid, cowering at kindergarten crying until the day was over, to the person I am today, who doesn't know when to shut up!

How about being a teenager having all my friends as employees with our charge being getting all the apples off the tree? That was a fun time, and one memory that sticks out is a particularly vicious apple fight where my friend Todd was hit in the head, while up in a tree, quickly toppling over with a full basket of apples to the ground. I'm pretty sure that was his last day in the fields!

Or how about the wisdom passed on from my grandparents about hard work. One great lesson was measure twice and cut once. This was a bit of a joke to my cousin and I and I recall vividly building our cider mill, you see we were there for the crap work, literally straightening nails. I guess this was the low man on the totem pole thing. My grandfather was working with a screw gun (back when you plugged them in). My cousin Jeremy and I were joking about standing on the cord and how much trouble we could get in if we actually did that, well we screwed up and did, needless to say we straightened our last nail that day.

Or how about painting the equipment shed, and pretending that we fell off the ladder and screaming for help to our grandmother, who had close to a heart attack when she discovered us. I still laugh about it but that day it wasn't half as funny as we thought it would be!

The orchard was a great place to learn the ins and outs of running a business, in a safe environment. The people skills and business skills we developed as a family, all working together still serve me well today in my current capacity. I am hopeful that we can discover a way to impart the same experiences into our own kids, the opportunity to work a business and see how the in and out of business works at a young age.

I never once longed for a childhood where we could have sat in front of a video game, after all what could be better than a common place where you get to spend summers and the fall with your family, learning about life. Those are memories that I would never trade, and I'm thankful everyday for the "investment" my family made in their children and grandchildren, to teach us about life and the world of running a small business.

This time of year always reminds me of days spent in the fields and at the store, family closely around me, the smell of pies baking, the sweet taste of fresh pressed cider, and I'm hopeful that somehow I can give my own kids the same memories and opportunity at a young age to experience the joys of entrepreneurship and the importance of family values. .

To Cold Call Or Not To Cold Call, that is the question

Don't do it. Just don't. I used to do some cold calling when I was a banking pup and my favorite thing to do was walk into an office, pretend to throw dirt on the floor, and then announce to the front desk person that I had something in my car that would clean up that mess in seconds.....why? Because compared to a vacuum salesman a banker doesn't seem that bad. Another move was to ask if they had found Jesus in their heart, I know I know, how dare I, but it was always fun to watch their reaction and once again compared to what could have been, a chubby little banker in a cheap suit didn't seem so bad.

Did I ever get through the door? Sometimes. But it was so incredibly unfulfilling and you always felt a little dirty when you left. Cold calling is dealing in transactions and you should be dealing in relationship building.

I've been in this game since 1998, and spent many years being the "new guy", working hard to ingratiate myself with the local business people (and other lenders). First, I tried to emulate those other bankers around me, the corn toothed, "we know more than you because we're bankers", types. Well that wasn't genuine and it didn't work. I couldn't stand myself. The eye opener was a chamber mixer where I decided "screw it, I'll just be myself". It worked and I'm pretty sure I freaked out my more traditional counter parts, which made it all the more fun.

The first step in this "awakening" is to figure out who you are as a salesperson, which is really who you are as a person. Do you like to swap stories, BS, grab a beer, swing some clubs (or swing a bat, I spent the afternoon last week hitting balls with a client) OR are you a more methodical mind, that enjoys the challenge of delving into a balance sheet? Are you an in the office or out of the office kind of person? I'm out of the office, more than in, out with my clients, looking at their numbers, touring their sites, testing their products (Heady Topper anyone?).

Once you identify what your interests are and who you are as a salesperson, look around. Identify organizations and businesses that mirror who you are and what you like to do. Rotary? Lions? How about the board of a local economic development company? I've said this before, don't do too much but do something. Attend all the chamber events, get your face out there often and meet as many people as you can.

Another super fun way to get out there is to identify the local watering hole where the heavy hitters play. It could be the local coffee shop, pub or breakfast joint. Once you figure out the "hot" spots, start inviting some of the folks you genuinely enjoy being around out for a pop, or a coffee, or breakfast/lunch. Do this once a week if you can. And mix it up. At some point you will have a small little network to feed from, and be sure to get this network together on occassion. SERVICE the crap out of your clients, I'm talking over the top stuff (I never close a loan at my bank, I go to them). Good service gets people talking. And good service comes from knowing your customers and genuinely caring about their success (again transactional versus relationship). Its the answered text at 9 pm on a Sunday that will stick in folks minds.

Your biggest success will come not from what you can do for folks directly, rather it will come when you can connect key members of your network. For example, your client complains that his accountant just takes his numbers at year end and pukes them onto a tax return, he needs more. Well you just so happen to have a rockstar accountant in your tight little group that goes the extra mile for his clients and adds value. Set up a lunch, introduce them. I've done this several times and those clients are still some of my most loyal that thank me at least a few times a year for making the connection.

Finally, get your mentors lined up, and cherry pick those qualities that you feel would work for you. After all, a good mentor will happily share their life lessons, that is years of experience for free! Here is a piece to chew on from an old co-worker, your customer knows more than you do, always. Never try to outsmart them, its gross. Give them advice, observations for sure, but don't grandstand, no one cares how smart you think you are.

In short, scrap cold calling. Instead go out and be yourself, meet people, help people, connect people and LISTEN to them. Being yourself can be risky as not everyone is going to like you, so what, its a big world.