Not too long ago there was a salesperson who had two sons named
Toward and Away. Every Saturday the salesman would go fishing early in
the morning and return late at night always talking about the giant fish
he almost caught. One Saturday he took his two sons, Toward and Away
with him.
That night he returned home more excited than ever.
"Sally,"
he yelled to his wife, "you should have seen the fish I saw today! A
tremendous gray fish ten feet long with horns and fur all overs its
back. It had legs like a caterpillar. It came crawling out of the
water, snatched our son Toward and swallowed him in one gulp!"
"Good gracious!" exclaimed his wife. "That's horrible!"
"Oh, that was nothing," said the salesperson. "You should have seen the one that got Away!"
Moral
of the story: Whether it's fishing, sales or jokes.... people just
don't appreciate stories about the one that got Away! Folks, don't
waste your life away discussing what might have been. Instead focus
your efforts on improving what is.
"Don't dwell on what went wrong. Instead, focus on what to do next. Spend your energies on moving forward toward finding the answer." - Dennis Waitley
One night a wife found her husband (a salesperson) standing over
their baby's crib. Silently she watched him. As he stood looking down
at the sleeping infant, she saw on his face a mixture of emotions:
disbelief, doubt, delight, enchantment, amazement, skepticism.
Touched by this unusual display and the deep emotions it aroused, with eyes glistening she slipped her arm around her husband.
"A penny for your thoughts," she said.
"It's amazing!" the salesman (husband) replied. "I just can't see how anybody can make a crib like that for only $46.50."
Moral of the story. True sales professionals know they have to have
some down time, some unwind time from their day to day sales routine.
When they are with their family, they are with their family. Their
mind, their focus, their attention is on their family during these
times. If business thoughts are getting in, your family is not your
focus. Learn to unwind.
"Family is not an important thing. It's everything." - Michael J. Fox
A down on his luck salesman, decided to change careers and headed to bus driver's school. When he graduated, his first assignment was the Sesame Street route.
At his first stop, he picked up a cow. When she got on the bus, she said, "Hello. My name is Patty."
He replied, "Hello, Patty. Since you are the first one on, you get your choice of seats."
She waddled on back and sat down. At the next stop he picked up
another cow. As she got on, she said, "Hi there. My name is Patty."
He answered, "That's unusual. The other passenger is also named
Patty. Why don't you go back and sit on the other side of the aisle and
talk to her. Maybe you have more in common than just your name."
She went on back and sat opposite the other Patty and struck up a
conversation. At the next stop, a little boy got on and said, "Hi! My
name's Leonard Keyes. I've got some special socks, See?"
The driver replied, "Those sure are special, Leonard. Have a
seat and we'll get to your stop real soon. As he was driving to the next
stop, he looked in his mirror and saw that Leonard had taken his socks
off and draped them over the seat in front of him, and was picking his
feet.
He called back, "Leonard! What are you doing?"
Leonard called back, "I've got bunions, and they're bothering me."
At the next corner, the driver stopped the bus, got off, went to a pay phone, and called the bus garage. "I quit!" he said.
The garage dispatcher asked why.
The salesman replied, "It's my first day on the job, and already I have 2
all beef Pattys, special socks, Leonard Keyes, picking bunions on the
Sesame Street Run!"
Moral of the story. True sales professionals know that in order to succeed at sales they need to be fully dedicated. From time to time other careers might some hold some appeal, but true sales professionals never lose focus. Because they know that if they do, one day soon their only closing question might be, "Would you like fries with that?"
"The world does not need tourists who ride by in a bus clucking their tongues. The world as it is needs those who will love it enough to change it, with what they have, where they are." - Robert Fulghum
A frustrated salesman told a work colleague, "When I was a boy, I
was disciplined by being sent to my room without supper. But in my
son's room, he has his own color TV, computer, games console and
iPhone!"
"So what do you do?" asked his colleague.
The salesman replied, "I send him to my room!"
Moral of the story. True sales professionals know that in order to
be successful at sales these days, you have to be disciplined,
self-disciplined. With all the distractions in the modern world it's
very easy to become distracted and lose focus. Social media, if not
self-regulated, can become a huge time sink. Good old fashioned to do
lists, that you prepare at the start of each and every business day,
stroking off items one-by-one as you complete them, are probably still
the best way of staying on track towards your goals. Stay sharp.
Stay focused. Stay on track. And stay successful.
"We all have dreams. But in order to make dreams into reality, it
takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline and
effort." - Jesse Owens
A young woman went into a pet shop one morning and mumbled: "Do you sell large white bears?"
"No I'm afraid we don't," said the salesman. The woman promptly leaves the pet shop.
The next morning the woman came back to the pet shop and again asked, "Do you sell large white bears?"
"No I'm afraid we don't," said the same salesman. The woman promptly leaves the pet shop again.
The third morning the woman came back to the pet shop and again asked, "Do you sell large white bears?"
"No I'm afraid we don't," said the same salesman. "And this is the third day you have come in and asked me that same question."
"I'm so sorry," said the young woman, "but I can't help it. I have a buy polar disorder."
Moral of the story. True sales professionals know that at times some
prospects insist on trying to buy products or services you just don't
sell. Don't get sucked in. Don't lose focus. Never get upset. But
at the same time be careful not to waste time on prospects who are nuts
either.
"In all chaos there is a cosmos, in all disorder a secret order." - Carl Jung
One Friday morning, a salesman arrived late with one eye swollen shut, his left arm in a sling, and his clothes in tatters.
"It's 10:00," pointed out the sales manager, "and you were supposed to be here by 9:00."
The salesman explained, "I fell out of a tenth story window."
The sales manager snorted and remarked, "And what, it took you a whole hour to land?"
Moral of the story. True sales professionals know that sales is a
tough racket. You can't let little things get you down. No mater
what, full speed ahead. So if you've read down this far, what are
doing? How is this joke going to help you make your number this
year? It's December 13! Only 12 days until Christmas and only 18 days left until year end. Only 18 days left to hit your number for the year. Set aside the seven swans a swimming and the partridge in a pear tree for a moment and focus on taking care of business today. They'll be plenty of time for shopping and getting ready for the holiday season over the weekend. Want a shot at just one of the five golden rings this year? Then get back to work..... At year end, an extra hour here or there can make a world of difference.
Good luck!
"The future is something everyone reaches at the rate of 60 minutes an hour, whatever he does, who ever he is." - C.S. Lewis
"Let him who would enjoy a great future waste none of his present." - Roger Babson
A salesman has traveled to Washington DC to close a big deal. He
arrives a day early so he has time to practice his presentation the
night before. After booking into his room at the Watergate Hotel,
paranoia overcomes him. The competitive situation of the big deal he
is working on, has him concerned. He asks himself, "What if this room
is still bugged?"
So he decides to do a comprehensive sweep of the room before he
practices his presentation. He looks behind the drapes, behind the
pictures, and under the rug. Finally he says "Aha!" Under the rug is a
small disc with four screws. He gets out his Swiss army knife,
unscrews the screws and throws them and the small disc out the window.
Now at ease, he settles down to practice his presentation.
The next morning as he was checking out at the front desk, the hotel
manager asks the salesman, "How was your room? How was the service?
How was your stay at the Watergate Hotel?"
The salesman, who was in a bit of a rush to get to his appointment, replied, "Why are you asking me all of these questions?"
The hotel manager answered, "Well the couple in the room underneath
yours complained that their chandelier fell on them last night."
Moral of the story. True sales professionals know that in order to
be successful at sales they need to stay calm while traveling. Feeling
rushed, worried or even scared while traveling, or getting sick from
bad food, can cause you to lose sleep, and lose focus on the task at
hand. You want to be at your best and brightest when in front of
prospects and customers; so don't cheap out on your travel budget.
Stay at well known hotel chains where quality standards are maintained,
and take the time to eat right when on the road. Don't overdose on
fast food or settle for a local greasy spoon because it's close and
cheap. The health and well-being of your commission check is nothing
to skimp out on.
"There is a do-it-yourself test for paranoia: you know you've got it
when you can't think of anything that's your fault." - Robert M.
Hutchins
A salesman was sitting in a bar one Monday lunchtime, fascinated
by the movements of a spider. He watched intently as the spider came
out of the kitchen, climbed up the wall, walked across the ceiling,
round the chandelier and back down the opposite wall, coming to rest on
the radiator pipe.
It was the same story on Tuesday at lunch. The spider came out of
the kitchen, climbed up the wall, walked across the ceiling, round the
chandelier and back down the opposite wall, coming to rest on the
radiator pipe.
By Wednesday, the salesman was so intrigued about the spider that he
shared his enthusiasm with one of his co-workers. "You watch," said the
salesman, "any minute now a spider will out of the kitchen, climb up
the wall, walk across the ceiling, round the chandelier and back down
the opposite wall, and will come to rest on the radiator pipe."
Sure enough, within minutes, the spider came out of the kitchen,
climbed up the wall, walked across the ceiling, round the chandelier and
back down the opposite wall, coming to rest on the radiator pipe.
"That's amazing," said the salesman's co-worker.
On Thursday at lunch, the salesman was in position ready for his
daily entertainment, but this time the spider came from the bathroom and
did the whole trip in reverse order. It climbed over the radiator
pipe, up the wall, walked across the ceiling, round the chandelier and
back down the opposite wall.
The salesman was mystified by this change in routine and waited to
see what would happen on Friday. At exactly the same time as usual the
spider came out of the kitchen, climbed up the wall, walked across the
ceiling, round the chandelier and back down the opposite wall, coming to
rest on the radiator pipe.
The salesman scratched his head. "Tell me bartender," he said, "on
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and today, I have watched a spider come out
of the kitchen, climb up the wall, walk across the ceiling, round the
chandelier and back down the opposite wall, coming to rest on the
radiator pipe. But yesterday it came from the bathroom and made the
whole trip in reverse. Why was that?"
"Well," said the bartender. "The kitchen window was closed."
Moral of the story. True sales professionals know that in order to
be successful in sales you need to be minding your own business. You
can't get bugged out by paying any attention to what others are doing or
you will lose focus of what your own goals are.
"The creative individual has the capacity to free himself from the
web of social pressures in which the rest of us are caught. He is
capable of questioning the assumptions that the rest of us accept."
- John W. Gardner
