It was Mother's Day. A woman with three sons who were all
successful salesmen, had her entire family over for dinner that
evening. The three sibling salesmen were very competitive and all had
sent their Mother's Day gifts earlier that morning, prior to their
arrival.
When they arrived that evening for their Mother's Day dinner, the three salesmen compared their gifts they had arranged.
The first salesman said, "I have built a big house for our mother, I sent her the plans and the deed this morning."
The second salesman said, "This morning I sent our mother a brand new Mercedes and her own personal driver."
The third salesman said, "I've got you both beat. You know how Mom enjoys the Bible and how she can't read well anymore. Well, this morning I sent her a very rare brown parrot that can recite the entire work verse by verse. It took 20 monks 12 years to teach him. I had to pledge to contribute $200,000 a year for each of the twelve years to make it happen. But it was worth it. Mom just has to recite chapter and verse and the parrot will recite it for her."
At that moment their mother entered the formal dining room.
"Milton," she said to the eldest salesman, "The house you built is so huge! I will live only one room but I'll have to clean that whole house!"
"Marvin," she said to the second salesman, "I am too old to travel. I stay at home all the time, so I'll have no real need for the Mercedes. Besides, the driver is really rude."
"Melvin," she said to the third salesman, "You were the only son to have the good sense to know what your mother likes. That fresh chicken you sent over for lunch was delicious."
Moral of the story. True sales professionals know that their success is determined by their customers' satisfaction. Finding out what satisfaction means to them as soon as possible is key.
"A negative judgment gives you more satisfaction that praise, provided it smacks of jealousy." - Jean Baudrillard
When they arrived that evening for their Mother's Day dinner, the three salesmen compared their gifts they had arranged.
The first salesman said, "I have built a big house for our mother, I sent her the plans and the deed this morning."
The second salesman said, "This morning I sent our mother a brand new Mercedes and her own personal driver."
The third salesman said, "I've got you both beat. You know how Mom enjoys the Bible and how she can't read well anymore. Well, this morning I sent her a very rare brown parrot that can recite the entire work verse by verse. It took 20 monks 12 years to teach him. I had to pledge to contribute $200,000 a year for each of the twelve years to make it happen. But it was worth it. Mom just has to recite chapter and verse and the parrot will recite it for her."
At that moment their mother entered the formal dining room.
"Milton," she said to the eldest salesman, "The house you built is so huge! I will live only one room but I'll have to clean that whole house!"
"Marvin," she said to the second salesman, "I am too old to travel. I stay at home all the time, so I'll have no real need for the Mercedes. Besides, the driver is really rude."
"Melvin," she said to the third salesman, "You were the only son to have the good sense to know what your mother likes. That fresh chicken you sent over for lunch was delicious."
Moral of the story. True sales professionals know that their success is determined by their customers' satisfaction. Finding out what satisfaction means to them as soon as possible is key.
"A negative judgment gives you more satisfaction that praise, provided it smacks of jealousy." - Jean Baudrillard
(Not sorry for being a day late. Visited with my Mom yesterday!)
