Are You a Donut Dropper?

I remember the first time I heard that. I had no idea what it was. That was probably 20 years ago at this point. If you don't know what it is, it's actually an insult for salespeople. It's derogatory. It basically means the person's level of professionalism is this: "Hey, here's a box of donuts. Can I do anything for you?" And that's it. It doesn't go much further than that. I'm a big fan of outside sales in the restoration industry, but it’s got to be more than just dropping off donuts. You can't just be a donut dropper –– you've got to be having real business conversations.

But getting back to the donuts... one thing I do believe in is food. Every week in my group sales coaching sessions and in my one-on-one coaching with owners, production managers, and sales reps, I always hear these stories about first-time referrals. I always ask, "Tell me the story. How did you get to the point where that agent referred you for the first time? Or that property manager brought you in on one of their losses at one of their buildings or that condo property? How did you get that?" More often than not, there’s a food story. They brought breakfast in, they brought lunch in, they took them out for lunch. They had a lunch and learn. They had an "ask me anything" session with food. Why is that?

Food is a Great Icebreaker: Bringing in food and planning it takes effort, and people realize that. They appreciate the effort and want to reciprocate.

Food Facilitates Conversation: With food comes conversation, and with conversation comes rapport-building and trust.

Building Trust Through Rapport: For anyone to bring you into one of their buildings or to refer you to one of their insureds, they've got to trust you.

Effort is Recognized and Appreciated: People realize the effort it takes to plan and bring food, and they appreciate it, which leads to reciprocation. So don't be a donut dropper, but do use food. Food works.