My big brother taught me this lesson years ago.  I have three big brothers and I have to confess I’d probably have turned out a sissy if it wasn’t for them.  Trust me, they cut me no slack for any reason.  They were firm believers that daily beatings were essential to my survival.

My big brother Wayne is one of the best story tellers around.  I could listen to his stories for days on end.  I don’t think he has a clue how good he is at story telling.  That’s probably for the best because if his head got any bigger his neck couldn’t carry it;-)  As you can tell those beatings were never merited.

Look for the Full Parking Lot

 It was around lunch time as my husband and I were driving north on Florida-1 from Key West.  I spied this nice looking restaurant just off the highway that looked like it had killer views, so we pulled off.  Now we should have gotten our first clue when we drove in the parking lot.  I even commented they must not be open for lunch.  Then I noticed their door was wide open and their wooden butler was there to greet us.

We were seated in a great spot.  Oddly enough there were almost no other diners even though it was almost noon.  We ordered our lunch and enjoyed the view as we waited.

Now I have to say the view was worth the price of admission.  However, I doubt my dog would have eaten the food.  As both my husband and I picked at out lunches I started laughing and said, “I guess I forgot Wayne’s rule for picking a restaurant”.  My husband got a chuckle out of that.  Oh well, there’s always another meal around the corner, but you don’t find views like that just anywhere.

Did I mention my big brother Wayne is 11 years my senior?  Sometimes he got stuck hauling the kid around.  I was always the kid because my siblings ranged from 9 years to 16 years my senior.

I first learned this lesson from Wayne as a child.  He got sent on an errand and he had to drag the kid along.  I was probably whining about being hungry or something because he decided to stop and get us lunch.  As we drove around Wayne told me to look for a parking lot with a lot of cars.

You see Wayne’s rule for dining was simple.  Find a place to eat with a full parking lot and you know the food will be good.  It didn’t matter what the place looked like, if the locals ate there you could count on something decent to eat.

When we got to the Clearwater area we followed Wayne’s rule.  We found a place that looked like your local dive.  It was so packed you had to wait for a parking space.  True to Wayne’s rule the food was among the best we came across.

 But I Don’t have a Parking Lot…

As service providers we need to remember that people are looking for the full parking lot.  I don’t mean that literally I mean your potential clients want to know they aren’t your first or only client.  They want to know others trust and respect both you and your work.

Many service businesses don’t have or need a physical location.  So how do others find their full parking lot?

There are lots of subtle ways you can let others know they aren’t alone.  For example, did you know over 4,000 other service providers and sales professionals are regular readers of this blog?

You can also host events where clients and potential clients can have fun and get to know each other.  They don’t even have to be face-to-face.  I’ve held a number of events via phone and the internet where subscribers could engage with me and each other.

The full parking lot represents your street cred for a restaurant.  You can earn your street cred other ways when you don’t literally have a parking lot.  For example, I’ve published nearly 700 articles and half a dozen or so books and ebooks.

There are lots of ways you can demonstrate your cred by becoming a good resource for others.

Sales Coach Cheryl

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 9th, 2010 at 6:00 am and is filed under sales coaching. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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