The Value of Good Salesmanship: A Teen's Perspective

Honestly, when I started working at the Farmers Market I was mostly focused and excited about the opportunity to make some money.  For that, I knew I would have to perform some tasks to earn it.  However, I had no idea how valuable the experience would be for me, both personally and professionally.

Austin Hall assists in Sales for Woodsong Herbs

Personally the experience has helped me to both test and challenge my ability to communicate with people of all ages, cultures and experiences.  As a teen I believed that my age limited my ability to get adults to want to listen and engage with me in conversation.  Through this experience I have found it to be completely the opposite.  In fact, they were extremely kind and interested in what I had to say and share.  It really boosted my confidence.  I realized that my age had nothing to do with it.  It all had to do with how I was communicating.  I found that my passion and belief not only in myself, but in the products/services I was selling at the market made the biggest difference.  I was actually enjoying the process as I worked and I appreciated the new relationships I was establishing with the market patrons (customers) as they would visit my booth week after week.

As my communication skills developed and improved, my confidence soared, and so did my sales!  I realized that I had an innate ability to effectively communicate with people and engage them in conversation.  People smiled at me, complemented me, and were responding positively to my words and body language.  It was a benefit of the job I was not expecting.

I realized that professionally I was developing and refining my sales skills.  Which are skills I will use and take into any job, career and relationship I enter into for the rest of my life.  By listening to my customers and recognizing their needs and doing a good job of explaining things to them, I was practicing good “salesmanship.”  No matter what career I pursue as an adult I will always be involved in some form of sales because sales is really all about effective communication.  If you can communicate you can engage people and get them interested and vice versa and from there forge a relationship.  I learned that being a good salesman is not just about making the “sale” or “meeting your numbers”, indirectly in business that does matter, but more importantly it’s about the relationship you forge with your customers and co-workers.  If your customers “trust" you and you are in tune with what they want and need and you know that because you “listen” and are “aware” and you can provide it, you will not only make the sale, you will also gain “loyalty” from that customer.  The relationship has  to be mutually beneficial and that’s what matters most.  As my parents say a lot “win/win”.

Stepping Out of Our Comfort Zone! BeMoneySmartUSA Teen Shares Her Experience

Autumn and Alyssa get into the Farmers Market Spirit
with Face Painting creations by April May

At the BeMoneySmartUSA Farmers Market we are asked to perform a myriad of different jobs. One of  the jobs we perform is Hospitality. In this job we greet customers who visit our market with a hardy and happy "hello" and then proceed to assist them with their groceries and/or to find a specific farmer or vendor they are looking for.  We also take the opportunity to sign them up for our weekly announcements and monthly newsletters where they have the opportunity to learn more about our markets and receive additional savings in coupons.  Engaging with customers in this way has really helped me develop my skills in both sales and customer service.  It's not always easy to walk up to a complete stranger and engage in conversation.  Getting this hands-on first hand experience affords me the chance to practice the skills we are taught in both the financial and business courses offered through BeMoneySmartUSA.

Before I could even begin to work at the Farmers' Markets, I had to first complete a financial and business workshop taught by BeMoneySmartUSA.  These classes were free and I was afraid they would also be boring.  Instead they were chock full of great information and facts about the economy that I had no idea about.  Most importantly I discovered that I had the power now at my age to begin the process of preparing for my own financial future.  My age was actually an advantage and I recognized both my own power to create my own future and my responsibility to understanding our own family's budget and spending.

BeMoneySmartUSA Farmers Market Offers Amazing Opportunities to Teens!

With economic times as tough as they are, teens too are in trouble when it comes to getting jobs.  That is why it is so fantastic that, through their  Farmers Markets, BeMoneySmartUSA offers a variety of job opportunities to teens not only to earn money but to learn valuable business skills.

Through the nonprofit’s Rent-A-Teen program, local farmers and vendors can hire youth who have been trained in the BeMoneySmartUSA business and financial literacy workshops to assist at the BeMoneySmartUSA Farmer’s Market.  In addition,

BeMoneySmartUSA offers other paid positions.  Teens may work in hospitality, greeting and helping those who come to the Farmer’s Market. They can also act as freelance writers, interviewing customers and vendors and sharing information in the Farmer’s Market monthly newsletter.

In addition to training teens, BeMoneySmartUSA gives back to the community! Workers collect several pounds of fresh produce from the farmers to donate to local youth charities, such as WIND Youth Services and Our Youth Breakfast Club.  “The Farmers Market is just an extension of the relevant experience and education they are all getting by participating in the Rent-A-Teen program and we are truly blessed to partner with an organization that gives back to youth and the community,” states Kelly Grady, mohter of three teenage girls who attended the finance and business camps and all work with BeMoneySmartUSA.

The BeMoneySmartUSA Farmer’s Market is a win-win situation for everyone involved:  the farmers, the teens, the costumers and local charities.  “We want to provide a model of business that helps the teens, the community and the businesses who participate to experience something more than the status quo,” says Don Hall, Market Manager, in this month’s Carmichael Times and American River Messenger.

At BeMoneySmartUSA’s unique Carmichael Farmer’s Market, youth gain job experience while earning an income, and advance their confidence and social skills while working with the community.  If you have not yet experienced the hospitality and plentiful selection of produce at the BeMoneySmartUSA Farmer’s Market,  please come for a visit!  It is open every Saturday at the Sunrise Mall in Citrus Heights, 8:00 am to 1:00 pm and every Sunday at the Carmichael Park from 9 am to 2 pm, rain or shine, all year round!

BeMoneySmartUSA is featured this month in the Carmichael Times as well as in the American River Messenger!  The articles provided  an in-depth look at how BeMoneySmartUSA is using its Carmichael Farmer’s Market to further its goal to financially educate youth. Free copies of the articles are available this month!

BeMoneySmartUSA works with schools, churches, youth organizations and businesses to provide FREE finance and business workshops to both youth and adults.  For more information about BeMoneySmartUSA workshops visit www.bemoneysmartusa.org. To sponsor a BeMoneySmartUSA program, email info@bemoneysmartusa.org or call (916) 806-3989.

Written by Clayton, 16, Folsom High School