Key West Marketing – Part 3 – Who's your salesman?

Lots of companies hire salespeople to go out and find qualified customers.  It’s a strategy that’s worked well in the modern era, but one of the things I learned in Key West is that sometimes the best salespeople aren’t necessarily in sales.

A common trend in Key West bars is to place the band near the front door.  That way the musicians (who play for tips) can yell at people on the sidewalk to come in and join the party.

Think the guy at the boat rental stand is there to simply take your money and schedule your activity?  No way!  He’s out there prospecting with every free minute, calling out to people in the street “Wanna go on a boat ride?!”

My favorite were the individuals who owned small fishing boats who would spend their nights partying with tourists (prospecting) to find people to go on guided fishing tours.

Here’s the point – Take a minute to look at the people in your organization.  How can you turn them into customer acquisition tools?