In any business, anywhere, you can be a salesperson and increase your income and opportunities.

This is my story about how a taxi driver turned out to be a great salesman.

When I think of a taxi driver, I think of a rude, underpaid, grumpy driver, angry at the economy for not letting him use his education.

My story

Last week I flew from Oslo (where I work) to Stockholm (where we have our head office) for a meeting. When I got off the plane and took a taxi, I was greeted by a friendly man from Egypt. We started talking and really hit it off. It turned out that he was a helicopter pilot, something that was not very common in Sweden. Unfortunately, the need is also not that great. We talked about his family, my family and many different topics. It was a very nice trip. The ride is about 30 minutes and after about 15 I started thinking about Joel Weldon’s story about Willie, the taxi driver who is a big salesman. He was wondering if my taxi driver would turn out to be such a good salesman.

Asked for repeat business

As we started to get closer to my goal, he asked me when I would be leaving. I told her later the same day, so she asked me if she wanted me to pick her up. Since the trip had been excellent, I didn’t see any reason to turn it down, so she repeated the trip again.

If I hadn’t asked, I wouldn’t have gotten it.

The easy fact that he asked for the deal proved what we always say: “You have to ask for the order to get it.” I would have loved to go with him again (and I said yes) but I would never have asked him to pick me up.

the return trip

It turned out that I had miscalculated the time a bit. I had much less time to get to the airport than I would have liked. To top it off, it had started to snow (remember this is Stockholm, Sweden). I called my taxi driver and it turned out that he had been in an accident. On the roads here another car had collided with his. But he told me he was on his way, just a little late. I waited 15 minutes and then I saw him come speeding around the corner. I jumped into the car, noticing the tooth in the door. He told me that the other car had failed to stop, he ran a stop sign and hit his car. In his rush to pick me up he had forgotten to take the phone number of the other car, luckily he had the plates.

we rushed to the airport

He kept changing lanes, taking us as fast as possible to the airport. I wasn’t that sociable, I kept looking at my watch to see how much time I had left. Finally, 20 minutes before takeoff, we arrived at the airport.

we almost collided

On the last corner he lost control of the car, we started to slide off the road and almost hit a light pole, missing by 8 inches. With our hearts in our throats, we said our goodbyes and I ran to the door.

my plane was delayed

It turned out that all our haste was unnecessary, due to the weather, my flight was delayed by 1 hour. I sent him an SMS thanking him for his help. He replied with a welcome. I boarded the plane and was finally on my way back to my beloved Norway.

This is what I saw when I landed

He had sent me another SMS.

“No matter how bad a situation is, it will always get better.”

I was stunned

Not only was it a great date, but he sent it to me. That’s exactly the kind of value I like. Next time I go to Stockholm I will look up his number and call him.

Got a blog post, not many cabbies have noted that.

Not only did he get a repeat customer, but he also got a blog post! How many taxi drivers have that? He is the first I know (that I know of) and the first taxi driver I have ever written about.

conclusion

By doing your job, you get repeat business and earn double the money. You have to ask for the order and then achieve it.

This applies to each and every business. If you do more, you will be rewarded.