Dinner time and a knock on the door. I answer. First I see a little girl – about seven years old. It’s freezing so she is dressed warmly in her winter coat. She’s presenting a box to me and smiling. Asks, if I want to buy a chocolate bar. Her mother is standing nearby.
I don’t want to buy a chocolate bar.
I’m a marketing guy so I figure that my job is to challenge these door-to-door sales people – even if they are only seven years old.
I ask, “Who’s selling these chocolate bars?” She answers, “Me.”
So she isn’t rattled by my first question and I’m already losing this discussion. So I add, “Who is the money for?”
“Frontenac School”.
She passed that test.
“We live across the street.” Neighbors.
“How much are the chocolate bars?”
“Three dollars.”
“Ouch!” It’s been a long time since I bought a chocolate bar.
The mother said, “You don’t have to buy.”
What? Does she think that I can’t afford three dollars for a chocolate bar that I don’t want?
Do I want to disappoint this little girl? Do I want to look unneighborly in front of these new neighbors?
Three dollars bought me a reprieve from guilt. The chocolate bar was free.
Guilty.
George Torok
Marketing Speaker
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