A lesson in marketing and sales prowess

Who would have thought that a five-year-old could teach me more about sales prowess in two minutes than four years of college combined? This little story that I forgot to share with you guys actually inspired a fiction piece.

I was, of course, angsting over what to include in my business plan when the doorbell rang. I wasn't really expecting anyone, so I took my time getting to the door. In the ten seconds it took me to reach the door, my doorbell had rang six times, coupled with numerous pecks, scratches and kicks at my door and window. I was absolutely livid. How dare someone bang on my door like that! Opening the door to give the culprit a shot of my fury, I was surprised to find two little girls no older than five and six; one raven-haired, the other strawberry blond.

The strawberry blond proceeded to silently thrust a battered, but unopened bottle of Aquafina in my face. The brunette, not to be outdone, quickly took two steps forward and shoved a sticky, half-empty bottle of Orange-aid at me. She confidently asked, "Do ya wanna buy something to drink?"

I decided to humor myself, and asked, "How much is it?"

The brunette replied, "A dollar." Observing the orange stain on her t-shirt and the orange ring around her mouth, she clearly had already taken her share off the top. She sure has the marketing spirit. Buy low, consume, sell high. At least that was her system.

I politely told her no, and said goodbye. I thought my ordeal was over until the brunette quickly turned toward me again, fist on her hip, and asked, "Are you really sure?" in a way only little girls can. By now she was tapping her foot in the grass, eyes determined to convince me of the horrendous mistake I was making in not buying her product. Talk about a hard sell.

Twenty minutes later, I'm a dollar poorer and staring at a sticky, half-empty bottle of Orange-aid. Darn, I should have gotten the Aquafina.