As reported in the NY Times, OgilvyOne has launched an international contest on YouTube to identify the "world’s greatest salesperson."
Contestants must submit a 1-2 minute video in which they sell a common red brick! The winner gets a three-month fellowship at Ogilvy, during which they will help write a new "Guide to selling in the 21st Century." The theory of course is that if you can sell a brick, you can sell anything!
Why are they doing this?
OgilvyOne thinks salesmanship is a lost art. Says their chairman: “Salesmanship has been lost in the pursuit of art or the dazzle of technology. It needs to be rekindled in this postrecession environment, as consumers are making more informed and deliberate choices.”
I’m looking forward to following the progress of this competition. Here’s the YouTube channel, if you want to follow too … or enter! Wouldn’t it be nice to see a nonprofit "salesperson" — and Agitator reader!! — win?
Think about it a moment …
Who is be best salesperson in your organization? Who can best fire up people about what your organization is doing?
I’ll bet that person might not be anyone whose official "day job" is in your fundraising shop. It could be some program person, a volunteer, a board member, a major donor, etc.
If it’s not you, or if they don’t work for you, what are you doing to get them involved in your fundraising efforts? How can you "put them to work?" What can you learn from them?
Tom
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Here at Queer Women of Color Media Arts Project (QWOCMAP), our best sales people are on our in-kind donations team! This year, we have an amazing team. They are positive, funny, they love our organization, they are really nice people, they want to do something to help, they want to be part of the “cool shiny car” that QWOCMAP has built by hand over the past 10 years.
Every year, we improve our in-kind donation solicitation process and this year we did our best to it fun. It was a way for them to share their passion for QWOCMAP. We told them that they can look at it as a conversation, meeting new people or being evangelical missionaries. They’ve had an absolute ball and we’re thrilled with them.
The funny part is that some team members are extra shy, others used to do corporate sales & cold calling, others are just really friendly social butterflies. All of them are hard workers.
As part of our organizational working agreements we honor their ideas and let them run with it (after giving direction).
The Managing Director gives pep talks, provide affirmations, applause and cheers. She even does little “happy dances” and makes up songs on the fly for them – apparently this is “very motivating”.
The 2010 team has responded by surpassing our in-kind donations levels for 2009 and 2008. At this point they are well on their way to garner in-kind donations worth more than the last two years combined!
I have no doubt that if QWOCMAP were selling bricks (to build our own facility, etc.) FOR A PURPOSE that this team could do it.