Where's the Payoff?

Moving Pianos
When I was young I delivered pianos. It was a good job; not high paying but interesting. I was in high school at the time. I weighed 135 pounds soaking wet. And I don't mean a compact muscular 135 pounds either. I mean a lanky, semi-scrawny, somewhat boney 135 pounds. Delivering pianos after school can be hard work, but it has its moments.

The best part of the job was the initial meeting with the customer, always an adult and often a much larger person than I was. I'd show up in a van which stood fairly high off the ground because of the oversized suspension. (Pianos are heavy, very heavy). I, skinny and shy, would greet the new piano owner who would invariably ask about my helpers. They'd be mildly annoyed that I was alone and that they would have to help. They were incredulous when I told them that insurance rules strictly forbade them from doing anything but hold the door for me. They could not touch the pianos until I had it them place in their living rooms. None of them believed that this could possibly ever happen.

It gets worse. They clearly expected that the truck would have some sort of lift on it. It didn't. They certainly thought that I must have some special equipment. I hadn't any. Pianos are moved with only a very small rubber-wheeled dolly that slips underneath and several thick movers' blankets. Using only the blankets (to avoid scratching the cabinet), I'd take the instrument off of the truck. Using the dolly I'd wheel it into place, sometimes with the assistance of the blankets on the stairs. I never scratched or chipped a piano. I did my work very quickly. I always got big tips.

Pianos are big and heavy. But big and heavy is no match for understanding and leverage. Pianos are cumbersome. But unwieldiness is no match for appropriate and simple tools. Pianos moved improperly can get you hurt. But one mover who knows what he's doing is safer than are two who don't. It's dangerous to accept help from well-meaning amateurs because the helpers usually just destroy the leverage.

This year you'll be doing some heavy lifting in your business. You'll be looking to land some big accounts. To make your goals you'll have to do things in the most efficient ways. I hope that you don't mind learning from an old piano mover. Get some instruction in how to leverage your time, efforts and conversations. Get some simple and powerful sales tools in the form of better questions and the wisdom to know when not to talk. Whenever possible, go on your sales calls alone. Two salespeople will destroy each other's leverage. Sales is serious work that is best left to professionals.

Mark Fitzgerald, Sales Training Institute, Inc., Tampa, Florida provides this column weekly. Mr. Fitzgerald provides both group and customized sales training for professionals and companies. For more information, please contact him by telephone at 813-831-5555 via email at mark@saleskills.com or visit www.saleskills.com. © Copyright Mark Fitzgerald, 2009, All Rights Reserved.