Although it seems like only yesterday, I joined Allen Tate Relocation in 1999. Since then, I’ve heard numerous wonderful stories and shared some amazing memories with my colleagues. But I must say that one of my favorite stories is how Mr. Allen Tate got his start in sales (a relevant story given yesterday’s announcement about Chiquita moving their global headquarters to Charlotte, N.C.).

As a young boy, Mr. Tate spent time working in his father’s grocery store in Gaffney, S.C. It was there that he learned the value of customer service and a quality product. To help inspire motivation and determination, his father would give him challenges to complete in the store each Saturday. If he had not completed the challenge by 6 p.m., his father would approach him and ask, “Allen, did you truly work to sell that product to our customers?”

One particular Saturday, Mr. Tate walked in to find the front of his father’s store covered, floor to ceiling, with bananas. As he tells it, there were bananas as far as the eye could see. Apparently a train carrying the shipment of bananas had been delayed between Gaffney and New Orleans. Instead of discarding the over-ripe bananas, they were given to Mr. Tate’s father in the hopes that he could sell them all.

However, it wouldn’t be Mr. Tate Sr. doing the banana selling. That day, Mr. Tate Jr. (a seasoned 10-year old salesman) and one other would be given the challenge to end all challenges. They were told that by the end of the day, all of the bananas in the store had to be gone.

They started selling bunches of bananas at $1 per bunch. A dollar per bunch!  By 11:30 a.m., the young salesman had to run to get change because word had gotten out about the amazing banana deal at the local grocery store. By 3 p.m., the sale was down to 25 cents per bunch and all of Gaffney was covered in bananas.

Unfortunately, the bananas won the challenge that day. Nevertheless, that challenge was the challenge that truly taught him how to sell a product.

If you happen across Mr. Tate today and ask him what an imperative attribute is for success in real estate, he will tell you that it is the ability to sell a product – under any circumstance or condition.

After hearing this story, I had to think that Mr. Tate wouldn’t want to be near a banana ever again. But quite the contrary – his favorite dessert of all time is banana pudding. (Cooked banana pudding, mind you, not the instant kind.) The secret to his favorite banana pudding is crushed pineapple. Add a little crushed pineapple to cooked banana pudding and in Mr. Tate’s opinion, you have a bowl of perfection.

So now I have to ask, what do you add to your banana pudding?

By DJ Stephan (President, Allen Tate Relocation)