This was send out as part of a newsletter from an Australian watch maker
Many of our subscribers are fine sales people who make their living wholesaling anything from clothing, cars, real-estate, software, large systems, industrial machinery, to multi-billion dollar clients. As a salesman myself, I have great respect for fellow salesmen. Selling is not a job or vocation - it is a pleasurable and sophisticated art form.
I have often wondered what is the most difficult thing to sell? And I got the answer in the past few weeks; baby rabbits! You see, for some strange reason, what started as an innocent 'let’s get her a friend' project in January turned out to be a "what the hell are we going to do with 15 baby rabbits now?" nightmare.
The main problem: Pricing. What is a rabbit worth? You can find them on Gumtree for anywhere from "free to good home" to $150 a piece. I set my price at $25 with the intention to move them fast, but this was a mistake: they were too cute and all I was getting was requests for more pictures from Mosman mums. "I would like two please for our daughters. Would you take $40?" Of course I would, but Mosman mums are too busy sitting in cafes all day long to care to show up for an appointment. And the novelty of 20 SMS messages per day quickly wore out. So I bumped the price to $35.
In this price bracket, you are dealing with boyfriends/girlfriends who believe that gifting a baby rabbit is a true sign of love. They are more than happy to pay the price, would drive 60km to pick the bunny (after all, colour is important!) but for the sake of a rabbit's life, I have no option but to point out the obvious: it's a stupid idea. Just buy her a toy rabbit and box of chocolates and that would be much more appreciated. They agree, no sale.
At $45 a piece, I am finally selling. There are plenty of smart dads who have already disappointed their kids too many times. And with Christmas coming fast, they know that this is their last chance to get it right. "I'll take 3, you pick the colour and sex, text me your PayPal account". The money comes in within 30 seconds. Easy. Except for one thing: busy dads are too busy to actually collect their rabbits. They are constantly away, on the road, attending yet another meeting, delayed with a very important client. While I did get paid, I still have all the baby rabbits in my backyard...
So, my fellow salesmen, if you haven't made a sale today, despair not. It could be much, much worse if you are in the rabbit business.
Many of our subscribers are fine sales people who make their living wholesaling anything from clothing, cars, real-estate, software, large systems, industrial machinery, to multi-billion dollar clients. As a salesman myself, I have great respect for fellow salesmen. Selling is not a job or vocation - it is a pleasurable and sophisticated art form.
I have often wondered what is the most difficult thing to sell? And I got the answer in the past few weeks; baby rabbits! You see, for some strange reason, what started as an innocent 'let’s get her a friend' project in January turned out to be a "what the hell are we going to do with 15 baby rabbits now?" nightmare.
The main problem: Pricing. What is a rabbit worth? You can find them on Gumtree for anywhere from "free to good home" to $150 a piece. I set my price at $25 with the intention to move them fast, but this was a mistake: they were too cute and all I was getting was requests for more pictures from Mosman mums. "I would like two please for our daughters. Would you take $40?" Of course I would, but Mosman mums are too busy sitting in cafes all day long to care to show up for an appointment. And the novelty of 20 SMS messages per day quickly wore out. So I bumped the price to $35.
In this price bracket, you are dealing with boyfriends/girlfriends who believe that gifting a baby rabbit is a true sign of love. They are more than happy to pay the price, would drive 60km to pick the bunny (after all, colour is important!) but for the sake of a rabbit's life, I have no option but to point out the obvious: it's a stupid idea. Just buy her a toy rabbit and box of chocolates and that would be much more appreciated. They agree, no sale.
At $45 a piece, I am finally selling. There are plenty of smart dads who have already disappointed their kids too many times. And with Christmas coming fast, they know that this is their last chance to get it right. "I'll take 3, you pick the colour and sex, text me your PayPal account". The money comes in within 30 seconds. Easy. Except for one thing: busy dads are too busy to actually collect their rabbits. They are constantly away, on the road, attending yet another meeting, delayed with a very important client. While I did get paid, I still have all the baby rabbits in my backyard...
So, my fellow salesmen, if you haven't made a sale today, despair not. It could be much, much worse if you are in the rabbit business.
