Each time his daughter brought the salesman a "cup of tea" he lavished praise on her, causing the young girl to feel immensely proud. So proud in fact, she kept bringing him tea. Small little tea cup, by small little tea cup, all day long.
A few days later the salesman's wife and the little girls mother, returned home and the salesman couldn't wait to show her how his little princess had been looking after him. On cue, his daughter took him his "cup of tea" and he sipped it before praising it to the heavens.
The salesman's wife watch him drink it and then said to him: "Did it ever occur to you that the only place that a toddler can reach to get water is the toilet?"
Moral of the story. True sales professionals know that in order to succeed one can not simply just go through the motions. You have to focus and stay attentive to what is going on about you at all times. Only by paying attention to detail, will you be able to keep your business in order. Don't drink the Kool-aid of the mediocre! Stay focused, stay alert and you will stay successful.
"When you have no one you can make a cup of tea for, when nobody needs you, that's when I think life is over." - Audrey Hepburn
