You’re at the holiday party and the house is filled with faces you don’t recognize. As you mingle and meet the other guests the conversation quickly leads to the inevitable question, “ So what do you do?”
You may answer, “I’m in the horse business. People pay me money to board horses, give riding lessons and train horses.” As an answer for a non-horseman, your reply is adequate. It’s direct and understandable by anyone.
And, as you search for common ground for discussion, you return the volley by asking the other person, “And what do you do?” There isn’t enough time at a busy party to explain in detail what your day is like and most likely you wouldn’t want to hear about someone else’s daily routine either. Good parties need good people, circulation and lots of laughs and light conversation.
But, if you’re like me, the next day you may think about everything that happened at the party the night before. Thoughts about what people said and did, the jokes you laughed at and the occupations of others attending may replay like a movie in your mind as you cool horses out, fill water buckets and buckle blankets.
As you rewind the movie, you think about everything you sell in your position as a key salesperson in your business, you discover you may sell more than boarding, lessons and training to your clients. You sell and deliver escape, self worth and an exclusive place to fit in with others.
You enable your clients to view their relationship with horses and horsemen as an escape from everything else they do in their lives when not at the farm. They use their “barn time” as a mini vacation from spouses, children, bosses or their own businesses. It’s a temporary safe haven where they can relax and have fun.
You provide your clients opportunities to become: better horsemen, skilled as riders and more confident in their abilities to grow mentally and athletically as equestrians.
You create a farm atmosphere that allows: a chance to talk horses incessantly without fear of boring the listener, an opportunity to develop a circle of friends who share in a love of horses and a place to create memories for children, adults and their families.
When you think deeply about it, you have a pretty cool business. You work and play with horses and people to deliver an experience that they remember for all of their lives.
Now, the next time you get stepped on, unload all of the feed by yourself or tend to a colicky horse at 2:00 A.M., remember that tolerating a few bumps in the road is a small chore compared to the enormous amount of good you do each day for your clients and their horses.
It’s easy to measure your success in the horse business; look at the accomplishments of your clients.