Much has been written about Justo Thomas, the fish butcher at the New York Times four star restaurant Le Bournadin. While many credit the success of this long running institution to chef Eric Rupert, Rupert points to Justo as his secret weapon.
Justo famously does in about 5 hours what it takes 3 sous chefs take over twelve to do when he’s on vacation. And even then, it’s not done as well.
So what does this have to do with Inside Sales? It turns out there are some big lessons we can learn about doing our jobs from how this ace does his.
- Prepare for your Day- A big part of Justo’s day is covering his work room in plastic wrap so that the room is easier to clean at the end of the day. In this same way, make sure you get yourself set up every morning to be as comfortable as you can to work as hard as you can, and anything you can do to make your end of day reporting easier for yourself.
- Cut the Fish the Same Way Every time- Justo cuts many different kinds of fish each day. When he’s cutting a particular kind of fish, he uses the same knife strokes and positioning for every individual fish of that kind. When you’re on the phone with a prospect, figure out what kind of “fish” they are as quick as you can, and then handle that call the same way.
- Don’t Waste Anything, but Throw Away the Gristle- Anthony Bourdain, the first person to point the world to Justo, marveled at how little fish he wasted. But in his appearance on Top Chef when one of the chefs asked why he didn’t cut more on a fish his comment was that it “wasn’t worth it.” You only have a certain amount of time and attention of the person on the other end of the phone. Use it wisely. Make sure that you are asking the highest value questions, and guiding the conversation where it needs to go without getting bogged down in the stuff that “isn’t worth it.”
- Don’t be Afraid to be Different- Justo uses just a few knives in the kitchen, and none of them are what most chefs would use for the task of fileting fish. In sales, often doing things differently and not only be beneficial, it can make the difference between blending in with the competition, and breaking out from the noise.
- Great Takes Time- Justo has been at Le Bournadin over a decade, and does things much differently now than when he started. Keep experimenting with different scripting and dialing techniques until you find the ones that work best for you and your organization. It will take time to get it exactly right.