A very elderly retired salesman and his wife are having an
elegant dinner to celebrate their 75th wedding anniversary. The old
salesman leans forward and says softly to his wife, "Dear, there is
something that I must ask you. It has always bothered me that our tenth
child has always been so sickly looking. He never quite looked like
the rest of our healthier children. Now, I want to assure you that
these 75 years have been the most wonderful experience I could have ever
hoped for, and your answer cannot take that all away. But I must know,
did he have a different father?"
The salesman's wife drops her head, unable to look her husband in the eye. She pauses for a moment and confesses. "Yes. Yes he did."
The old salesman is very shaken. The reality of what his wife is admitting hits him harder than he had expected. With a tear in his eye he asks, "Who? Who was he? Who was the father of our tenth child?"
Again the salesman's wife drops her head, saying nothing at first as she tries to muster the courage to tell the truth to the salesman. Then, finally, she says, "You."
Moral of the story. True sales professionals know that in order to be successful at sales they can never afford to assume anything. True sales professionals never assume that their customers are happy, they never assume that their customers are buying as much as they can from them, and they never assume that their customers are not buying from their competitors. True sales professionals are always asking questions. Perpetually curious, they understand that only by asking precise questions, often enough, will they be reassured.
"Assumptions are the termites of relationships." - Henry Winkler
The salesman's wife drops her head, unable to look her husband in the eye. She pauses for a moment and confesses. "Yes. Yes he did."
The old salesman is very shaken. The reality of what his wife is admitting hits him harder than he had expected. With a tear in his eye he asks, "Who? Who was he? Who was the father of our tenth child?"
Again the salesman's wife drops her head, saying nothing at first as she tries to muster the courage to tell the truth to the salesman. Then, finally, she says, "You."
Moral of the story. True sales professionals know that in order to be successful at sales they can never afford to assume anything. True sales professionals never assume that their customers are happy, they never assume that their customers are buying as much as they can from them, and they never assume that their customers are not buying from their competitors. True sales professionals are always asking questions. Perpetually curious, they understand that only by asking precise questions, often enough, will they be reassured.
"Assumptions are the termites of relationships." - Henry Winkler
