Serve
Does your company have an attitude of assistance, a heart to help Ms. Jones? Do you look for ways to delight her, or are you more concerned with your own comfort. I once boycotted a dry cleaner because they closed their drive through window in the winter, saying it was too cold for their employees… never mind that I had to drag a little kid out in the cold carrying a bag of clothes. Does your staff have the freedom to serve Ms. Jones in amazing and delightful ways? Name some surprising ways you could serve Ms. Jones.
EMBARRASSED
Have you ever been caught with your pants down? Do you fess up or do you cover up when you’re em-bare-assed with Ms. Jones? To what lengths do you go to hide your humiliation and protect your reputation?
Idiot
Ms. Jones doesn’t like playground bully tactics. It didn’t work in high school and it doesn’t work in sales: you can’t put others down to make yourself look good.
Labor
They were sick and tired of being sick and tired. 3,000 employees of the Pullman Palace Car Company were working harder and making less. They didn’t care that no one was buying their train cars anymore. They didn’t care that the country was in the middle of an economic crisis They cared that they were working twelve-hour days for low wages, so they effectively shut down traffic for all point west of Chicago in a strike involving 250,000 workers in 27 states.
Rude
Mid-song, she put down her guitar and spoke to the audience. “I’m an artist,” she explained. “I can’t perform for you with interruptions. If you can’t come to a concert without turning off your cell phones, then please leave.”
Age
Do you floss? Smoke? What do you drive? When was the last time you went to church? Are you married? Are your parents married? What kind of pets do you have? Do you eat breakfast? When was the last time you broke a sweat? How many cheeseburgers did you eat last week?
Remember
The question was asked in a crowd of about 350 people: “Who can remember meeting a really good salesperson?” It wasn’t a business meeting, it wasn’t a test. “You know, someone who you trusted, someone you believed?” the speaker prompted. No one raised their hands. In trying to make one point about memory, the speaker made another about salesmanship: it’s becoming a lost art.
Reversal
“No, you can’t have the carrots. They’re just for me.” What parent hasn’t resorted to seamy tactics when trying to squeeze an ounce of nutrition into a squirming toddler? The fact is, reverse psychology works on kids. Will it work on Ms. Jones? She didn’t wake up one morning and suddenly decide, “I think I’ll […]
Over
When financing new furniture, Ms. Jones used to ask herself if she could squeeze another $19 bucks out of her budget. That doesn’t seem too hard, does it? It wasn’t, so she did. Fast forward a few years through a recession or depression – whatever you want to call it. Finance companies have dried up […]
Hyperbole
Good news for those of us who are being held back from achieving our dreams by the pesky cords on our hair dryers! The Infiniti Cord Keeper “is all you need” to be free. “Life is too beautiful to miss,” touts the advertisement. “Don’t let a cord slow you down.” Who knew? The only thing […]