Can You Really Sell Ice to an Eskimo?
I was once told I could sell ice to an Eskimo. At first, I was unsure whether to take it as a compliment that I am a world-class salesperson or as a subtle comment suggesting the product I was offering was unnecessary.
The more I thought about it, the more I realised you absolutely can sell ice to an Eskimo, but only if you are solving a real problem.
It is not about selling something they already have in abundance. It is about offering a better way to access it, use it or benefit from it. If someone lives surrounded by ice, then helping them get it faster, cleaner, more conveniently or more safely is a valuable solution. That is what true selling is. It is about understanding the problem better than the customer and presenting a more effective solution.
Too often, we are told to do our jobs but are not given the tools to do them efficiently. From the outside, everything might appear to be working fine.
Imagine a carpenter building a house. Someone unfamiliar with the work might say, “Why do you need a nail gun when a hammer does the same job?” A hammer is cheaper, quieter and does not require maintenance. And if the builder is being paid for a full day’s work anyway, what is the rush?
It sounds logical until you ask the carpenter. They know those few saved seconds per nail add up. They know reduced fatigue matters. They know that better tools lead to better results, happier workers and more pride in the work.
Before nail guns existed, no one complained. But once they became available, they changed the way the job was done.
This is what streamlining really means. It is about making someone’s job easier, faster and less frustrating one small step at a time. When you remove friction from someone’s day, you empower them to do their best work.
We built SalesLogs with this principle in mind.
In the automotive world, salespeople, managers and administration teams are often expected to deliver results without having the right systems. They juggle spreadsheets, CRMs, whiteboards, emails and a range of workarounds just to keep things moving.
We created SalesLogs to centralise data, connect teams and replace outdated manual processes with real-time insights and automated workflows. It is a platform designed to bring people together and simplify the way they work. SalesLogs helps every team member stay aligned, make decisions faster and focus on what they do best.
When a team works in harmony, with the right tools and the right data, they become unstoppable.
That is the real message behind selling ice to an Eskimo. It is not about manipulation. It is about empathy. It is about understanding the task deeply enough to offer something that truly helps.
Every one of us has experiences that others do not. So ask yourself. What part of your work have you struggled with and solved? What method or process made your job easier? That is where real value lives.
And sometimes solving a five-second frustration for one person can spark a five-hour gain for the entire team.
