Is this the solution the President and Congress have been searching for?
When we’re feeling badly because of some “sad news,” It’s easy for us to think we’ve got the corner on tragedy. But the truth of the matter is that everyone (from the Queen of England to the village pauper) has got problems. They just manifest differently for each of us.
It’s important when times are tough to remember that each day is a gift and we’re well-served to live them like they’re all we’ve got. Doing that, I think, allows us all to make the difference we’re meant to make!
Last year, I (somewhat foolishly) agreed to help sort and move about 200 boxes of papers. The project quickly became more complex and lengthy than I’d anticipated. After all that time, it suddenly looked like it was finally coming to a close last week. Unfortunately, it turned out that 63 of these boxes couldn’t be delivered to their intended destination. Therefore, they’ve overtaken my apartment in the interim:
My new welcome mat
Anyone who has seen my apartment knows how small it is. I live in a 700 square foot, one-room condo in downtown Greensboro. There just isn’t room for 63 66 banker’s boxes. Lesson: Be careful of what you commit to…
The view from my bed
Hopefully they’ll be moving on soon…
The other day, somebody asked me why I’m not in sales and I thought about it. I’m not sure. I guess I’m just not doing that kind of work. But, the question did trigger the memory of my first sales call.
Now, I know everyone has tales of tough calls, but you should have been there to see me fall on my face and get back up. This was my first job out of college. We were selling a new (and still unique) service for hiring. I struggled to set appointments with prospects. I had a hard time articulating our service over the phone. And after being told “NO!” more times than I could count, I surprised myself by scoring a meeting with a prospect. Little did I know that my prospective-client’s hobby was fiddling with salespeople. He saw fresh meat.
When I walked into his office (just above the factory floor) I was a twenty-two year-old sales “executive” who knew nothing and he was an octogenarian who knew everything. By the time I left though I’d earned some spurs.
To this guy, I was the afternoon’s entertainment. The jester in his court. The entertaining began before
he’d even invited me to sit down. It went something like this: He’d throw out an objection and before I could answer he’d start cackling. When it stopped being funny to him I’d try to answer again and he’d interrupt me with another objection.
It was rough. Especially for my first time out. I sat down and couldn’t get a word in edgewise. He was demeaning, dismissive and arrogant.
But this guy didn’t realize I’d literally grown up in a sales training company. Once he’d run out of objections, I got back on the horse, took the reins, and started asking him questions. It turned out he loved his own voice even more than jeering young salespeople and once I got him talking, that worked to my benefit. I asked about his challenges and learned about his business.
Eventually, after I’d earned his trust, he told me about his succession planning concerns. We had a service that would alleviate his worries. By the time I walked out, he wanted our service. He bought.
Over time, I earned his respect and he continued to buy.
Thinking back on that time makes me want to get back into sales. But there’s too much to do on this side of the house.
Today marks the fiftieth anniversary of the beginning of the sit-in movement. Along with the Brown v. Board of Education decision, and the Montgomery bus boycott, the sit-ins helped spur the Civil Rights Movement in the United States. The sit-ins began on February 1, 1960 at the Woolworth’s lunch-counter in Greensboro, NC when four NC A&T State University students sat down in defiance of Jim Crow and asked for a cup of coffee.
