You will be deprived of any posts for the next two days. Upsetting and disappointing, I know. I will spend the next two days heading down to the Baltimore area, the surrounding beltways, and making it as far south as Fredericksburg before heading back to see Bethesda and as far North as Hagerstown if time permits. Now this is a monumental task. I believe this will be the 4th or 5th time I’ve made this trip by myself and the last few times was kids play compared to this. I know the area, I know the maps, I know where I want to go, I know what I want to try to do. I mapped out about 60 various customers in locations up and down that area that I can potentially see. Some old, some new, and some I might have to try to win back. What I’m trying to do was impossible 20 years ago. Probably even 10 years ago. With GPS and Google I can map out the perfect route to hit as much as I can. I don’t even know if it’s possible to hit that many people but I’m sure as hell going to try. It requires a lot of driving and a good mindset to be sharp with all of the people you’ll encounter. It’s kind of funny because when I’m put in business situations I don’t have any anxiety with people because I have a clear cut purpose. There isn’t any bullshit, just sales.

Unless you are a sales rep on the road all the time, many people don’t have this opportunity to present them self in front of customers and try to win business. It’s a really interesting task that is one of those things that you get better at the more you do it. Now that I have my route down and I have no worries finding my destinations, it comes down to selling. I can actually take a different approach then most people because I’m more than just a salesman. If I don’t get the sale, it’s ok, my paycheck isn’t exactly derived from the commissions I make. I go into these stores for something more important than just the sale, KNOWLEDGE. I want to know what their customers are buying, why they are buying them, what I can do to learn how to find a potential profit center. I have to want to develop relationships and listen intently to what people are telling me. Taking notes, marking competitors prices, hearing anything I can about the industry is valuable. Trips like these are the heart of business. Years ago I didn’t have the experience to work this trip right. Today, I’ve turned into something powerful through hard work and growth. This isn’t a kids game anymore.