I’m the Prime Minister of Timber Floors (and So Are You)

I feel as important as the prime minister of Australia on every job I do—and so should you!The company I worked for in the ’90s was then, and still is now, owned by a hard-nosed salesman who started it in 1975. A large portion of our time was spent in sales training, and I am proud to say that even though I'm an installer, I also call myself a salesman: I sell me, I sell what I can do, I sell Scribed Flooring and I sell our team. I would love to share some of my early sales training and how I use it today.

As a brand-new salesperson, you may be nervous with clients (I was). When you’re on that doorstep about to knock on the door, you may feel your heart beating harder. Now remember, if you’re there to measure and bid on a job, you’re there because that’s how the process usually works: Some call it selling, but some see it differently.

What gets you the job is confidence—confidence in yourself, confidence in your product and confidence in your price. One of the sessions that was taught to a bunch of us green sales guys and girls was this: Even though we were only a few weeks into our career, we, being enthusiastic flooring professionals, were already in the upper echelon of this industry. What they continued to instill was that it did not matter if we were talking to a lawyer, a surgeon or the prime minister of Australia, we also were the “surgeons of flooring” or even “the Prime Minister of Wood Flooring,” meaning we can look into their eyes without intimidation knowing they are talking to the best person for them at that moment. We are equals; no one has ever looked down at me while doing this fantastic profession, and no one ever will.

If you’re reading this article on this website about your chosen craft and have gotten down to this sentence, I’m sure you, too, are the “President of Wood Floors” and always have confidence in everything you do and say. No one is better!