Giving Back: The $4 Investment That Turned Me Around

By Andy King, VP of Sales & Giving Back Champion / Trinity Solutions, Inc.

ROI in Giving Back?

$4?! You were thinking a notepad, right?

Actually, it was cinnamon rolls, but I’ll get to that later.

I think this all started because the President of Trinity Solutions, Ron, watched too much news one weekend. It was one of those particularly bad weekends where people were just screaming at each other in the streets. Before our Monday morning company prayer, Ron announced a Pay It Forward program. Basically, if you saw someone at a restaurant from a different culture, looked like they needed a friend, or was a first responder, buy them lunch, hear their story, make a new friend, and whatever you spend, the company will pay you back. I thought this was a cool idea, but I must admit, I couldn’t figure out the ROI of this program. (I’m in sales after all.) How could focusing on giving back just didn’t seem to be something I thought would work.

Then, I lost a BIG sale. Like most salesmen, I fell into that introspective spiral where you second guess everything. I stopped by a local restaurant to have lunch and noticed two firemen. Thinking of the Pay It Forward program, I bought these guys some cinnamon rolls to take back to the firehouse. I talked to them for a few minutes, then asked if I could pray for them and their station’s safety. The bigger of the two firemen smiled and said, “Let’s do it now!”

Then, something crazy happened; an older couple came over and joined us.
Then, the restaurant manager join our little huddle. And before I knew it, all six of us from different backgrounds were united together as one; it was really something to experience.

As I was driving home with a newly – renewed faith in community, I realized I was selling all wrong. I was SELLING an IT service. When I won, I gained a new CLIENT. When I lost, I missed a SALE. It was all about ME, not others. My thinking was on the wrong person. So, I stopped it right then. I stopped looking for SALES OPPORTUNITIES and started looking for ways in GIVING BACK. I didn’t just change the words I used, I changed my whole outlook.
In the next couple of weeks, I viewed every PROSPECT as a WIN, simply because they were a new FRIEND who may just happen to need our services. This change in mindset led to a great month, followed by an even better month. New people were coming on board and seeing the difference Trinity Solutions made in their business, because we did what our competition wasn’t doing; we showed we cared. I wouldn’t have come to this conclusion had I not spent $4 on cinnamon rolls, offered a prayer, and seen the impact that small gestures can make.
Honestly, it’s very easy to be enthusiastic about the level of IT service we provide, but sometimes I can get too excited about what we offer and fail to concentrate on my prospect’s needs. Now I realize from a sales side, if I view everyone I meet as a friend, I will always do what’s RIGHT for THEM, whether there’s an invoice involved or not. Focusing on giving back makes channeling my enthusiasm second nature when I KNOW that I am out every day trying to be a blessing to someone as opposed to just trying to sell them something.
Now, I see the ROI of Ron’s Pay It Forward program in multiple ways, but most importantly, in me.
So be cool to a stranger today, see what happens. $4 could end up changing your life!