When I started selling cars, my boss told me to put something in my office that connected me to the outside world, something a customer might feel a kinship with. He said, “Like a picture of your wife and kids.” Something that I could talk to people about that didn’t have to do with the car sale.

I had a great portrait of my wife and little girls. I don’t remember why but we’d had professional portraits taken and there was a 5 by 7 that was a great picture of all my girls. My wife was stunning, with red-blonde hair, and my girls were definitely post card material. So I went and got a nice frame for it and I put it on the desk where I usually did my deals.

We had to share offices with guys on other crews, and really when it was busy, you just grabbed whatever booth was available. There were maybe ten small offices along one wall of the showroom, and then there were three more along another wall.

I noticed one day soon after I’d brought my picture in that no other office had anyone’s family picture on it. I didn’t quite understand why no one was taking advantage of the obvious sales tool a nice picture of your family made. I used my picture, everyone who came into my office got introduced to my girls and we talked family stuff. I was in a Buick store and back then Buicks were for older people who’d grown up the American dream. Good hard-working people or well-retired people who had a nice family, a nice house with a two car garage, nice lawn, a pool, and a Buick in the driveway. Usually, my customers would talk about their grandkids who were sometimes the same age as mine.

It was a great ice-breaker. And when it would get busy, sometimes another salesman would be in my office with customers. One of the guys had his deal in my office one day, and I overheard the customer ask if the family in the picture were his. It really surprised me when he said no. In fact, he took the picture off the desk and put it on the floor. I don’t really remember, but I don’t think he sold the deal.

Another guy used it one day, on a busy Saturday and he used my picture, from what I was told, and told his customers it was his wife and kids. He sold his deal. I thought that was pretty cool.

I had a couple of days off, and when I came back I walked down the row of offices to get to the sales office. I wasn’t really looking, but I noticed a framed picture in one of the offices and thought, “good, someone’s on the ball.” Then the office just before mine had a picture too. I went to look at it. It was my family on a photo-copy of my portrait and had the exact frame mine had.

Every office had one…twelve frames with photocopies of my family on every desk. I think it was the funniest thing I’d ever seen at that point in my life.