Long on my personal "Bucket List" has been the attending of a U2 Concert who by almost any measure are the world's leading band. So I purchased tickets for my wife Susy and I to attend almost a year ago. The 360 Tour Event in Anaheim was an awesome experience for both of us. And apparently we weren't alone in our opinions. The tour was the most expensive ever staged and it blew away a previous mark set by the Rolling Stones for gross sales.
"Sales" There's that word again... As much as I enjoyed the concert on a music/entertainment level, I couldn't help thinking about all the selling going on... and at this particular concert, the serving.
You might be surprised to know that lead singer Bono sees himself as a "Salesman" first and foremost. He talks about this candidly in an authorized Book/Interview/Conversation with Michka Assayas.
Bono says, "A lot of our family are traveling salesman. And of course that is what I have become! I am very much a traveling salesman. And that, if you really want to know, is how I see myself. I sell songs from door to door, from town to town. I sell melodies and words. And for me, in my political work, I sell ideas. In the commercial world that I'm entering into, I'm also selling ideas. So I see myself in a long line of family sales people. I really do. Thank God for my uncle Jack!"
But uniquely, Bono and the U2 Band see themselves as serving the world's hurting,poor, and underprivileged. A lot of bands play Live Aid and Band Aid concerts but U2 takes service to a whole new level. They are without question the world's leading "philanthropy performers" and been called the face of "fusion philanthropy" combining their roles as entertainers and musicians with the spearheading of new organizational networks blending global humanitarian relief, geopolitical activism, and corporate commercial enterprise.
Their work for Amnesty International, One, Red, and Third World Debt Relief is so well integrated into their music and shows it is almost seamless. A U2 album or concert is a celebration of serving, helping, and doing the right thing.
U2 is the most successful band of all-time. Why? They are great musicians and song writers...absolutely. You must be competent, even great at what you do. But if while selling whatever you sell, and serving whatever you serve, and producing whatever result you produce, you can also involve your customers in significantly serving the needs of the world at large you will magnify your success beyond anything you could have done with just competence alone.
Look for ways you can partner with your customers in serving people and solving problems... That's what Servant Selling is all about!