I was wandering down a dark and secluded road in the Irish country land. It was 11 pm at night. I saw a tax drive past me, and I tried to get him to stop.
No way sucker. He didn’t say that, but that’s what I imagined him to say.
Another taxi drives b, and I hope he’ll slow down.
Not so, I feel the wind rush by me as I realize I’m in a difficult position. That’s when I realize; no taxi is going to stop for me.
What the hell am I going to do?
Maybe I can call a taxi. I look down at my phone, and I only have 10% battery life yet. I think a bit further an realize that I may have to walk back to the hotel, so I best be careful with my phone usage.
I come to a gas station and see a couple of taxis.
I ask the first taxi driver, and he has already been booked.
I go to the next taxi and see a gentleman.
I ask him if I’m he’s available for hire. I tell him I need to go to the Maldron Hotel Dublin Airport.
He replies that it will be 20 Euros.
That’s when I ask a question that makes me realize I’m a Stupid American.
“Do you take credit card?”
“Do you use the Taxi app?”
Derrick, the taxi driver, responds No to both questions.
I’m in a tough position. What am I going to do?
“I can get cash from an ATM,” I tell Derek.
“Well, in order to do that, I’ll have to drive you into the village, which will be another 10 euros,” replies Derek.
“I’m fine with that. That’s the only option I have. Otherwise, I’m going to have to walk back to the hotel,” I respond to Derek.
“You can’t walk back to the hotel. I’m not going to allow that.” Derek says to me.
Just then two young ladies come to the taxi and inquire if Derek can take drive them to their hotel.
“I’m not metered tonight. It will be 15 euros for each of you.”
“Perfect,” respond the two ladies.
We’re off to a village to find an ATM. When we get to the ATM, I put my credit card in the machine.
It doesn’t work. I try a different card. That one doesn’t work either.
Crap!!! Now I’m going to have to tell Derek I don’t have any cash. I hope he’ll be able to work something out.
I get back into the seat and explain my predicament to Derek.
That’s when Derek looks at me blankly.
He didn’t say this, but I imagined him thinking. “What’s wrong with this guy?”
I then say. I’ll pay you twice tomorrow. I’m going into Dublin proper, and I’ll need a taxi ride.
I’ll call my credit card company tonight to get it straightened out so I can get cash for tomorrow.
I’ll turn my head around and say to the lovely young ladies in the back seats. You can go ahead and call me a Stupid American. I own that
I’m a Stupid American. I should have gotten cash.
I’m so used to using my credit card to pay for everything; I thought I would be able to use my credit card here.
Derek tries to call his brother, who is a taxi driver, to see if I can pay with Derek’s brother’s credit card machine. That doesn’t work.
I then repeat to Derrick. The only other option I have is to walk to the hotel.
“No, you can’t do that.” Replies Derek in his lovely Irish accent.
“I need to make sure you get paid, Derek. You’re doing work for me. You need to get paid.” I continue with Derek.
Derek finally says, Alright then, givus me a call on your telephone. I can tell you’re an honest guy, so I’ll trust you. I’ll come pick you up tomorrow to take you into Dublin, and then you will pay me tomorrow.”
“Wonderful! I’m going to tell my wife you saved my life.” I replied.
I exchanged phone numbers with Derek and arrived at the hotel. I was relieved and ready to go to bed.
But first, I needed to get in contact with my credit card company so I could get cash.
After 30 minutes of talking with the credit card company, I was able to get my PIN set with my credit card company so I could get cash from the ATM.
Then off to bed so I could get a much needed restful night of sleep.
The following morning I had a lovely breakfast at the hotel, and then I headed over to the gas station across the street so I could get the money out of the ATM.
Around noon I called Derek and set a time for him to pick me up so I could go into Dublin.
We had a jolly time, and I asked Derek for his advice on the best places to eat and visit during my time in Dublin.
Derrick dropped me off at the Dublin Heuston train station.
I ended my taxi ride by sharing pictures of my family, and Derek shared that he had seven grandchildren and another one on the way.
It was truly a lovely time talking with Derek.
As I was traveling to Galway by train the next day, I smiled as I thought about my adventure with Derek.
I did a fantastic job selling myself to Derek, the Taxi Driver.
Here are the steps I took to accomplish what I wanted.
The longer I live, the longer I realize I’m constantly selling myself. Selling is one of the most important skills one can gain in life. Every day I put myself in a position where I’m selling something.
One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned about sales is you must take people through a process. The simple sales process I take people through the Trust Trail™.
Know -> Like -> Trust
I know that before anyone will buy from me, they have to trust me. When I first meet someone, I realize that I am on a fool’s errand by
trying to get people to trust me when I first talk to them.
First, I must get that person to know me.
The very first thing I like to do is put on a big genuine smile. I look the person directly in the eyes and say hello, my name is Damon Yudichak.
I then ask the person for there name. I ask a few other questions to get to know the person. Typically these are small talk questions. I like to ask questions that are about the person, yet not too personal. If I ask a super personal question, the person will probably be a bit freaked out and exit stage left.
Here are a few questions that I like to ask:
- Are you from this area?
- How long have you been here?
- Where are you from?
- What do you like to do in your free time?
- What kind of work do you do?
It’s important to be genuinely interested in the person while I’m talking with them.
In the past, I’ve been a bit shy, and it has taken me a lot of work to get out of my shell. It has been a bit of a chore to put myself out there to talk with people.
The hack that I like to use is asking questions. I’m really good at asking questions. The thing that I like about asking questions is it gets the other person to start talking.
What I’ve found is most people love to talk about themselves. By getting other people to talk about themselves, I’m able to use my shyness to my advantage.
Additionally, by getting people to talk about themselves, they start to feel good about themselves. Who doesn’t like to talk about themselves?
When I listen to someone, it shows that I care about them. When I demonstrate that I care about someone, a person naturally starts to like me.
This moves them along the Trust Trial™.
When someone feels cared for they are more likely to like me, and then they are one set closer to trusting me.
Once I get to the trust level, the person is prepared to buy.
Trying to get someone to buy before they trust you is a fool’s errand. The chance of a successful sale before a customer is at the trust level is slim to none.
And if I take a moment to step back and look at things from the other person’s point of view. Why should the person trust me? I haven’t done my work to build a case for why I am trustworthy.
This brings me back to a saying that Dr. Lynda Aiman-Smith shared with me during my first course in business school.
All business is built on personal relationships.
It is much easier to sell when someone is prepared to buy.
So there I was in the middle of the Irish countryside without any cash in need of a taxi.
I had to convince or sell Derek to give me a taxi ride even though I had no money. Here I was a foreigner asking for a huge favor.
Trust Me!!
Please Trust Me!!
The next time you go to sell, take a moment and realize that every time you sell, you are asking that person to trust you.
Spend some time thinking about one way to enhance the trust level you build with your customers.
Building trust with your customers is playing the long game. It takes more work in the beginning. However, in the end, it makes the whole process much easier and much less expensive.
Ultimately, increasing the trust level with your customers will dramatically increase the revenue you generate from your customers.
If you’re ever in Dublin and need a taxi, give Derek a call at 353 1808 05 00. Tell Derek that Damon referred you.
Make sure you have cash pay Derek otherwise he won’t give you a ride.
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