How Do You Say What You Do?

A few years ago I was on a golf trip with a group of guys from different parts of the country.  One of the guys was the manager of a beer distributorship.  When my friend learned what he did, he said “You need to meet Jack.  He sells breathalyzers.”  That’s when I learned how to tell people what I do for a living: I sell  breathalyzers.

Depending on who is asking and why they want to know, sometimes that answer is all they need to know.  Many times folks just want to know the general field of work that you are in.  As it turns out a lot of people have never heard of a business that sells drug and alcohol testing products, so sometimes a longer explanation is necessary for them to grasp what AlcoPro does.

We also find that many of our customers don’t know everything that AlcoPro does.  We are always surprised when a student in one of our training classes learns for the first time that we sell alcohol testing instruments and supplies!  They only knew AlcoPro as a training business.  In fact, training is only one part of what AlcoPro does.

Here is the big picture of all the things AlcoPro does, in addition to selling breathalyzers.

• AlcoPro sells all types of alcohol testing devices, from disposable screening devices to evidential quality alcohol testing instruments.
• We sell a wide variety of on-site drug testing products that detect drugs in urine, sweat, saliva, and hair.
• AlcoPro manufactures several products, including the CheckPoint breath alcohol test which is cleared by the FDA for over-the-counter sale.
• AlcoPro repairs and performs preventive maintenance inspections on alcohol testing instruments.
• AlcoPro develops training courses, and offers on-line and classroom training to meet the needs of DOT workplace testing.
• And the last category of product and service that AlcoPro offers is “answers to questions.”  Our staff routinely answer questions ranging from “How do I calibrate my Alco-Sensor?” to “My client says the reason for his positive test is he ate a pizza with anchovies.  Could that be possible?”  The answers to many of these questions we’ve been asked over the 35 years that AlcoPro has been in business are available in our on-line knowledgebase at alcopro.com.

Back to my golf trip several years ago:  Sometimes we see ourselves more clearly through the eyes of other people.  I was lucky that my friend told me about his conversation with the beer distributor so that I could learn to say “I sell breathalyzers.”  What’s your reply when someone asks what you do for a living?  I challenge you to answer that question in three or four words using the format “I (action verb) (noun).” You may be hard-pressed to come up with a better answer than what my new friend, the beer distributor says: “I sell beer.”