The salesman had been invited to his sister's place to watch the
football playoff games on their big screen TV. When he arrived his
nephew ran to the front door to greet him with a big hug.
"I'm so glad to see you Uncle!" shouted his nephew. "You're not carrying anything are you?"
"No, I'm not carrying anything, Jimmy," replied the salesman.
"So, does that mean you're empty-handed then?" asked Jimmy.
"Well, yes, I guess it does," replied the salesman, somewhat bewildered. "Why do you ask?"
"Now Daddy can do the trick he's been promising to do all week!" exclaimed little Jimmy.
"Trick?" asked the salesman. "What trick?"
"Daddy has been telling Mommy all week that he would be climbing the
walls if you showed up here empty handed again!" replied little Jimmy.
Moral of the story. True sales professionals know that in order to
be successful at sales they must adhere to all forms of social
convention. If you are invited to a party or a get together during the
football playoffs, it's customary to bring something. Either something
to drink, like a bottle of fine wine, or a case of expensive beer, or
perhaps a snack food item to enhance everyone's enjoyment of the game.
Or, perhaps a bucket of chicken, a couple of pizzas, a few bags of
potato chips and salsa, chicken wings, a plate of pigs in a blanket, a
fondue with cheese, an assortment of meat, scallops and all the fixings,
any of these items will help make the celebration a little more
festive. You don't want to get the reputation of being a freeloader.
Such a personal foul will cost you a lot more than 15 yards and an
automatic first down. Such a personal foul could prevent you from
advancing in your career.
"One of the biggest things you have is your reputation and your reputation with knowing what's good and what's not good." - Paul Feig
A salesman was invited to a dinner party being held by one of his
co-workers. During the meal, the four year old daughter of one of his
co-workers was staring at him unceasingly. In fact she was staring at
him so hard she could hardly eat her food.
The salesman checked his tie, felt his face for food, patted his hair
in place, and a myriad assortment of other things, but nothing he did,
could stop the four year old girl from staring at him. Finally the
salesman's patience was exhausted.
"Why are you staring at me?" asked the salesman.
Everyone else at the table had noticed the young girl's focus on the salesman, and all went quiet to hear her response.
The little girl replied, "I just want to see how you drink like a fish."
Moral of the story. True sales professionals know that in order to
succeed in sales you need to have a good reputation. If your reputation
isn't a good one, it will not only precede you, it will cost you sales.
"You can't buy a good reputation; you must earn it." - Harvey Mackay
A salesman was out golfing with three of his long time friends from
high school. They were having a great time, when all of a sudden the
salesman felt a horrific sharp pain shoot from his wrist, up his arm and
to his chest. He had never experienced pain like this before. Every
inch of his body simultaneously seized or cramped, he couldn't talk as
the horrible, searing pain took his legs out from under him. He slumped
into a heap at the beginning of the tenth hole.
Lucky for the salesman, one of his high school friends was a doctor,
who recognized early on that the salesman was experiencing a heart
attack. The doctor immediately loosed the collar on the salesman's
golf shirt and started CPR, he told his buddy to call the clubhouse and
have them rush the defibrillator out to the tenth hole immediately. The
last member of the foursome was instructed to call 911 immediately and
have them send an ambulance.
Within a couple of minutes the defibrillator arrived and in the
doctor 's expert hands, saved the salesman. The ambulance arrived
shortly after that, and the salesman along with the doctor were whisked
away to the hospital. Some tests were run on the salesman, and the
doctor performed a bypass operation later that afternoon.
Four weeks later the salesman and his buddies were back on the golf
course again. At the first tee, the salesman shook the doctor's hand
and said, "Since we are the best of friends, I would not want to insult
you by offering payment. But I thought you would like to know that as a
result of your quick thinking that saved my life, that you are now
mentioned in my will."
"That is very, very, kind of you," replied the doctor. "May I see
the copy of the prescription I last gave you? I'd like to make a little
change."
Moral of the story. True sales professionals know that in order to
be successful at sales they need to make certain that everyone in their
immediate circle is paid their due. From large sums of money to mere
gratitude; bills left unpaid can not only cost you future business, but
they can sully your reputation and destroy friendships. Remember, in
the long run, what you put out to the world, you eventually get back.
So why not distribute nothing but your best?
"Develop an attitude of gratitude, and give thanks for everything
that happens to you, knowing that each step forward is a step toward
achieving something bigger and better than your current situation."
- Brian Tracy
