It’s 6pm on Halloween 2017. We’re in a quaint NC neighborhood and my 3 girls are dressed as the Power Puff Girls. My wife is their creator, Professor Utonium, and I choose to be their nemesis, MOJO JOJO! It was a great night and we had fun as our neighborhood was taken over by costumed kids and adults!

While pushing our 2-year-old around in the stroller, a few business and life lessons stuck out to me.  I’m sure the spiked apple cider one of the neighbors gave out helped spur my mind…;)

• 1.  Trick or Treating, like sales and business, is A NUMBERS GAME.  The more houses we visited, the more candy we received.

We went to some houses where no one was home.  We went to a few houses and the candy bucket was empty.  But as we persevered, we found the majority of homes had amazing candy and toys for the kids, and drinks for the adults.

• 2.  BE SPECIFIC.

My 2-year-old knows exactly what she wants and when she wants it.  On Halloween, she has to be very specific because she has a peanut allergy.  So I helped her tell the candy-givers after she said, “Trick or Treat,” to also say, “No peanuts please.”

When you’re making a business call or presentation, you need to BE SPECIFIC and ask for what you want.  I’ve made the mistake so many times of pumping up my company and telling potential customers about all our amazing bells and whistles.  Then I leave without ASKING FOR THE BUSINESS or asking them to make a SPECIFIC DECISION on how we move forward.

• 3.  BE CREATIVE.

After Halloween, no one is talking about the Count Dracula that visited their house or the Witch that stopped by on the broom.  Instead people are talking about the 2 parents dressed up as ice bags holding the baby (ICE, ICE Baby… get it!) or the family dressed up as Bob Ross, his paint board, and the tree scene he always paints.

In business, you need to figure out how to be memorable.  When prospects need your product or service, do they remember you?  Maybe you wear a bright shirt or tie so people take notice.  Maybe you do a play on your name like my friend, Steve Hand of www.trianglebni.com, who always slowly waves his hand in front of the crowd as he introduces himself.

Do you currently have a way to help your prospects remember you?  What can you do so that your prospects remember YOU when they need your product or service?

I’m sure there are a ton of other business or life lessons that could be taken from Halloween.  What did Halloween or Trick or Treating teach you about Business, Sales or Life?  Comment below!

Curtis Webster Jr

Curtis is a dad to three little girls and has been married to an ER Doc for over 13 years. Life is busy, but life is good! He enjoys bourbon, poker and meeting new friends, which is what led him to create the facebook group, Dads Married to Doctors.  His mantra, “Life is BETTER when we do life together!”