The wife teed up and shanked it through the window of the biggest house on the course. The salesman cringed and said, "I told you to watch out for the houses! All right, let's go up there and see how much this is going to cost us." They walked up, knocked on the door and heard a voice say, "Come on in."
They opened the door and saw glass all over the floor and a broken bottle on the floor in pieces. A man on the couch said, "Are you the people that broke my window?"
"Yes. Sorry about that," the salesman replied.
"No, actually I want to thank you. I'm a genie that was trapped for a thousand years in that bottle! You two have released me! I am allowed to grant three wishes, and I'll give you each one and keep the last one for myself. How does that sound?"
"Great!: said the salesman. I want a million dollars a year for the rest of my life!"
"No problem, said the genie. It's the least I could do.. And you? What would you like?"
"I would like a home in every country of the world!" exclaimed the salesman's wife.
"Consider it done!" replied the genie.
"And what is your wish genie?" asked the salesman.
"Well since I've been trapped in that bottle I haven't had sex with woman in over a thousand years. My wish is to sleep with your wife."
The salesman looks at his wife and said. "Well, we did get a lot of money and all of those houses honey. I guess I don't care."
The genie took the salesman's wife upstairs and ravished her for over two hours. Afterwards, the genie rolled over, looked at the salesman's wife and asked, "How old is your husband anyway?"
"35," she replied.
"And he still believes in genies?" remarked the genie. "That's amazing!"
Moral of the story. True sales professionals know that their success and well being depends upon a thorough analysis of their prospects' needs before trying to close any deal. During contract negotiations it is important to address all expectations that your prospect might have and make sure that their expectations are aligned with the capabilities of the products and or services your firm is positioning. Failure to go through this process can lead to unrealistic expectations on the part of your customer resulting in an overall lack of satisfaction after the deal. Repeat business will rarely occur in these types of situations. And successful sales careers are often based around repeat business.
"Checking the results of a decision against its expectations shows executives what their strengths are, where they need to improve, and where they lack knowledge or information." - Peter Drucker
