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Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see a shadow. -Helen Keller
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So much of one's successes in life have to do with outlook. If you go in to a meeting with a client and carry with you negative thoughts, or worries, you are far less likely to be successful in your objectives.
When I was a brand new salesman I had a mentor named Jerry Hampton. Jerry was as old-school as they come. In fact, I'm pretty sure that he was a contemporary of Dicky Fox and well, that's alright with me. Jerry used to tell us to "check your baggage at the door." -What he meant was that any negativity in your life, anything getting you down was NOT TO EVER be brought with you in to a sales call.
In fact, you need to check the negative baggage and adopt some positive passion. People buy from people that are passionate about the solutions they are presenting. It's hard to be passionate about anything if you have negativity in you.
"Check it at the door."
Tonight I was at a wedding (it was a blast!) and I was one of the only people at our table that wasn't an M.D. I asked the doctors at the table about how they are trained to handle when someone "codes," and is in the last throws of life? A guy named Kevin, a cardiologist, told me that they are told to use chest compressions to try and resuscitate the patient. He said that they are trained to do so at a certain tempo. In order to remember the tempo they are trained to use a song as a bench mark. There are two songs that are commonly used as the beats-per-minute guideline for resuscitating a patient:
1. Staying Alive by the Bee Gees
and
2. Another One Bites The Dust by Queen.
Which song would you choose? Which do you think has a greater success rate?
When you go in to a sales call, check your baggage at the door and if you have a song in your head... make sure its, "Staying Alive."
Happy Selling!
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Sage advice. Over time, I've learned a similar lesson when handling middle schoolers. When one kid brings his/her baggage to first hour and decides to "pee in my wheaties" by acting out and disrupting class, I've learned to keep my eye on the prize and stay calm. I handle things (the best I can) politely, calmly and decisively. Getting upset about some kid's acting out only increases the likelihood that I'd be on edge in the following class periods. Staying upset also increases the odds that I would also irritate some other kid carrying emotional baggage into my following classes, setting him/her off.
thenewgreen · 697 days ago · link ·
I was a server for many years and my experience confirms this. It's amazing how the same people consistently had "bad nights." When I managed a restaurant, I always told the servers that the "floor" was a stage and even if you're at a work station, or away in a corner you should assume that a guest can see and hear you. Have to vent? Do it in the break room or maybe the kitchen but NEVER on the floor. I had no tolerance for that. No guest should ever hear or see a server complaining. Granted, this was a fine dining restaurant and the same rules may not apply at a bar, but if I owned it, they would.
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A few decades in the business and I've only seen a handful of times when dropping the show was appropriate. Sexual harassment of the staff, inappropriate and disruptive behavior toward other guests that didn't clear up after a warning and a few customers so callously demeaning to the staff that they needed to be told how humans act. I had a large party of about a dozen people get seated in my section. They looked like professionals gussied up for a night of swanky partying. It was early in the evening and while it was a place that was happening later in the evening there were a few families with kids in my section. The large party's behavior was disgusting. Swearing like crazy, loudly discussing sex acts and just being assholes. The families are bitching at me as I'm desperately trying to get this party to tone it down. I put the whole thing in my managers lap who gets them to settle a bit but my whole section feels like it's about to explode in dissatisfaction. When the big party gets up to leave two of the leaders were milling about as the rest of the party was heading out the door. I pick up the credit slip and it's a $4 tip on a bill that was around $150. I turn and look at the guy and say "really? $4 dollars?" He reaches in his pocket, pulls out a roll of bills, peels off a $10 and says "here shut the fuck up," and tosses it on the floor in front of me. Their table was trashed. They had unscrewed the salt and pepper shakers and poured them under the table, same with the chips and salsa. I wasn't as angry as I was stunned. I go up to the hostess to relay what happened and she gets this big smile. "when I asked for the guys name he didn't give it to me, he just flung his business card at me. Here you go." I waited a few months then went by his office and put a cinder block through his plate glass window in the dark of night.
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thenewgreen · 696 days ago · link ·
I waited a few months then went by his office and put a cinder block through his plate glass window in the dark of night.
you certain he owned the building?
camarillobrillo · 697 days ago · link ·
I've found that it's nearly impossible to "check your baggage" at work. In fact I try harder to keep my work from affecting how I am at home. I agree though. Work just goes smoother if you focus on the task at hand rather than things you cannot help to change at the moment. A good work Zen (however I may achieve it) is salve for the soul at the end of a long day. Makes you feel like you've earned it. As for the songs I choose both. One is optimistic and one is the harsh truth. I need that yin and yang to remind me what I really want.
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