What We Say And What We Really Mean-2

If all was right with the world, we could tell customers whatever we were thinking.  Unfortunately, that is not how things work in the business climate of today, and sometimes we say one thing when we really mean something else.  Here's a few more

                       What We Say                                                              What We Really Mean

"I see here that your order shipped out today."          "Shit, I better make sure that order goes out today."

"You are my favorite customer.  You know that?"            "You're my favorite customer....at this moment."

"I just love your necklace.  It's beautiful. "                      "Wow! Where did she buy that thing?  A garage sale?"

" I like that watch.  Where did you get it?"                "I don't give a damn about your watch. I'm checking the time."

"Oh is that your wife/husband in this picture?"         "Oh someone actually had the courage to marry you?"

"That is a beautiful blouse.It looks great on you."   "Is that a half leopard/cheetah print?Who is she? The Lion King?"

"The benefit to you will be a reduction in costs."        "And the benefit to me will be an increase in commissions."

"Our product has been know to limit viral infection."    "I am not a clinical person, but I hope you believe this bullshit."

"Our competitor's product does not perform as well."     "They sold you a load of crap and you believed them?"

"Yes the competition offers lower prices than us.I know."  "Those mother fuckers are operating sweat shops in China!"

"I like your make up today.  It's very natural and subtle."     "Holy shit. She needs more make up. I think I'm blind."

Have a great day selling!  More to come.

-M

What We Say and What We Really Mean -1

All of us in sales, service, customer service, production, or any facet of business that deals with customers have to watch carefully what we say.  Unfortunately we are not allowed to express our true, and wholly justified, feelings about a situation to a customer.  So I put together a few words and phrases that we find ourselves uttering daily to customers, but I also listed the true meaning of the word or phrase we wished to convey. 

                   
                What We Say                                                               What We Really Mean

"Good morning.How can I help you?"                 "Why are you bothering me while I'm enjoying my coffee?"

" I apologize and I'll take care of that right away."               "Good luck getting your stuff now.You asshole."

" That was a miscommunication on our part."               "How many times did I tell you it took 3 days? Idiot!"

" I checked the tracking number. It should be there."                  "Are you stupid? Look on your porch."

" Oh I must have written down the wrong item number."           "You gave me the wrong item number."

" I'm sorry doctor, you're right.  That's my fault."                      "What a moron!Glad he's/she's not my doctor."

" Sometimes people are confused during surgery."                    "I think you may have removed the wrong organ."

" I would love to do that, but I'm not sure it's legal."                    " Do I look that stupid to you?"

" Unfortunately I can't do that because of regulations."                 "Do I look that stupid to you?"

" We can only act within the government guidelines."               "For the last time!Do I look that stupid to you?"

" Yeah, I've run out of free samples.  Sorry."                                     "No more freebies. Order something!"

" Sorry, but there is a cost involved.  It's not free."               "Are you kidding me?  You're such a cheap ass."

" I would love to do that for free, but I can't sorry."                    " What the hell?  Is you're stuff free?"

" I understand my competitor says it's free."                           " Those bastards are lying through their teeth."

" Unfortunately, I can't go any lower on the price."                   "I'm done negotiating miss/mr.penny pincher."


These are just a few.  Stay tuned for more next week.  Have a great day selling!

-M

Where Do I Park?

Nothing to me is worse than getting a parking ticket.  NOTHING! To me it's like throwing money away, and despite my efforts to avoid getting a ticket, it sometimes happen in this crazy town known as Los Angeles where the parking restrictions change by the minute.  I'm not kidding, BY THE MINUTE.  I was reminded of this  because I woke up this morning and my new neighbor had a ticket on her car, and she was not happy.

As I found out myself when I moved in to my new place, it turns out you can park in certain spots everyday of the week, except 2 am to 3 am on Wednesday mornings.  Why?  Who the hell knows!  Nothing about street sweeping, squirrel crossings, or grunion runs. No words on the signs indicated why it was illegal to park in this area at that particular hour.  What made it even more painful for me, was the fact that I had just purchased a parking permit because when I initially moved into my new place, I received 2 tickets the very first night!

The tickets should have just read, "Greetings from the City of Angels.  We are aware you just moved here and cannot purchase a permit since it is the weekend.  As a result,  we are going to make your move even more unpleasant, and give you 2 complimentary tickets for overnight parking.  Enjoy your weekend asshole. Hahahaha!"

When I came out my front door, with my dog, my neighbor was looking at the ticket and she seemed really pissed off.
"I have a parking permit.  Why did I get a ticket?", she asked me.

"That is kind of weird.  Where were you parked?", I asked her as I was holding my dog by its leash.
"Across the street.  Why?"

"Where across the street?  Were you in front of the City Park or to the side of the Park?"
" What does that have to do with anything?", she looked confused.
" If you park to the one side on Wednesday mornings they give you a ticket... for overnight parking."

" What?  That's why I bought the fucking permit so I wouldn't get another ticket. I got three already."

" The same thing happened to me when I first moved in.  Apparently you can't park in 6 spaces to the left of the City Park on Wednesday mornings from 2 am to 3 am. Even with a permit."

"What? Why?"

" Good question.  I never asked why. I think it has something to do with city maintenance workers or something. They park their vehicles there for training or something."

" So just those six spots?  That's it.  And only on Wednesdays."

" No. You also can't park there on Sunday nights from 2 am to 6 am even with a permit, and on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 am to 6 pm."

" What?  When can you actual park on the street?"

" Oh wait and Monday mornings from 8 am to 11:30 am you can't park in that area either."

" Are you joking?  Seriously?"

" I'm not joking.  Look at all the signs.", I said and pointed at the area she had parked in.  There were 6 parking signs in an area designated for about ten parking spots in front of the City Park.

" I'll just park the car in my garage."

" You can't do that either.  There's a city ordinance against parking in your garage without a permit."

" Bullshit!"

" You're right I'm joking there isn't a city ordinance, but good luck getting into that little garage."

" Wow.  Are you the neighborhood Debbie Downer? Jesus you'd think we live in San Francisco or New York City."

I laughed, "Nope, but I went through the same shit when I moved in.  You'll figure it out after a while and to be honest the only problem parking is on Sunday nights when all of the rules are in effect.  Finding a spot then is a bitch."

" Well thanks for enlightening me.  But I still have one serious problem with parking here."

" What's that?", I said and now I was confused.

" There's a boot on my car now.", she said and she motioned for me to come to the other side of the car, and sure enough there was a yellow boot on front tire on the driver's side. 

" Damn! I'm so sorry.",

" Fuck my life. ", she said.

" Welcome to the neighborhood.", I said and smiled.  Then my dog peed on her shoe.

" Perfect.", she said and we both just laughed.

Be careful where you park and be aware of all the posted signs, because there's nothing worse than getting a parking ticket.  Except maybe getting a parking ticket, a boot on your car, and pee on your shoes.  Have a great day!

-M

Separate Yourself From The Competition

Years ago while selling for a medical distributor, I was trying to think of a way to differentiate myself from my competitors and aside from all the features and benefits, which I've been through a hundred times with my customers, I needed something else.  I couldn't just rely on the old standards which had worked before, because to be honest, my company had failed to deliver on a few promises, and so the customer's perception was that "I" had failed to deliver on "my" promises.  I don't separate myself from the company when things go bad, that's the sign of a poor sales person.  You can't do that, otherwise not only do you lose credibility, so does the company and before you know it; you've lost the account.

So one particularly large customer had been unhappy with the service because THEY had ordered product incorrectly, picked the wrong item codes, and as a result the order was screwed up.  First of all, you can't tell your customer, "Well the order was wrong because you're an idiot and you gave us the wrong product codes."  Instead you say, "I guess there was a miscommunication on our part as to the specific products you wanted."

Or if you're in medical sales you can't say, "You and your stupid staff can't fill out the Medi-Care paperwork because you're mentally challenged, so they didn't approve the order for reimbursement".  Instead you have to say, "It was my understanding we didn't ask you for all the information correctly, and so the order wasn't approved.  That's our fault for not verifying all of the information.  I'm so sorry."

Therefore, I was back pedaling with this account because we had a few minor glitches, but I really needed something to separate myself from the other competitors.  They were knocking on my customer's door at all times, and in some cases the account was still placing orders with the competition.  I thought to myself, "How can I make this a personal relationship rather than just a business relationship?".  And I remembered that all the people in this account loved dogs.  Just loved them!  So what did I do?  I scheduled an appointment for my dog to be bathed and cleaned at a place near the hospital. 

That way I could tell the main contact, "If I come by on Friday can I bring my dog?  She gets groomed at a place right near the hospital and I need to pick her up around 3.  Is that okay with you?"

When I mentioned my dog, he was excited. "Oh that's right you have a dog too.  Sure not a problem.  I'd love to see your pup.  What kind of dog is she?"  I asked this knowing that he had the same type of dog.

"She's a Pointer."

"Well I'll be!  I have a Pointer too!  I'll bet you knew that didn't you?", he said.

" I had a general idea.  But I wasn't sure if that was your dog in all those pictures in your office."

"Yep.  Sure is.  I love that dog.  Had him for years.  Ya know those are great hunting dogs."

 "Really?  Well I don't take her hunting.  Just up on the hiking trails.  We'll just visit for a little bit.  Won't make a sound or be any trouble at all.  Be there around 3:30.  Is that okay?"

" Heck yeah! Bring her on by, I'm sure everyone in the office would like to see her too."

     Friday came, I dropped the dog off in the morning for grooming,and came by to pick her up at 3 pm.  She was soft and clean, and she smelled good.  Perfect since we were visiting a medical clinic. We went to the account which was in a large medical building, but security guard thought she was a "Special Needs" dog so it was no problem taking her on the elevator.  I suppose he took one look at me and thought I had "special needs".

Two minutes later we were in the lobby, and the staff was playing with the dog, the key contact was petting her, and I had made a big difference in how the account now viewed me.  I wasn't just a sales person anymore, I was more like a friend.  And my company wasn't just another company anymore, they were a company "with a heart". 

    In order to be successful in today's business climate, you have to be able to separate yourself from your competitors.  Sometimes the only way to do it, is to make it more personal.  So if you have a child, a wife, a dog, a cat, anything that makes you seem more humane and therefore more trustworthy to the customer, then bring it up.  Try to get them to meet your child, your pet, or even your spouse if you think it'll make a difference.  I'm not saying bring your kids to the account and say, "If you don't buy something from me, they'll starve." That is not a good idea.

But only bring them for a visit, if you think it will matter and the customer feels comfortable.  You don't want to be bring your dog or child to every account, especially since you run the risk of them peeing on the floor or even worse...biting someone.  Those baby teeth can really hurt.

Make every day memorable.


-M

Careful What You Wish For...

I've been working on a large office of doctors for over 2 years now, and with 2 different companies.  It has been difficult to get any business from this group of doctors and I have been unable to figure out exactly why they don't order from me.  This is a great account to secure for any healthcare rep, but the doctors are very obtuse when it comes to describing their vendor preferences. Here's a typical conversation with the lead doctor, during an in service, at this specific clinic:

"Hey Doctor A!  How are things?  Are you doing well?"

"Oh yeah I'm good.  Really good thanks.  And thanks for bringing us Baja Fresh.  I love this stuff."

He sits down and starts eating part of a chicken burrito.  So I think this will be a perfect opportunity to figure out what the hell is going on with this particular account.

"You used to order a lot of product from us.  What's happened to make you start ordering from other companies?  Have we done something wrong on our end?"

"My foot is sore.  I went skiing this weekend.  Have you ever been skiing?", he said and started rubbing his foot.

"No I haven't.  I usually snowboard.  I feel like you're avoiding the question doc.  Is there a reason you don't order from us?"

"Skiing is hard.  I think I twisted my ankle.  Did you watch the Laker game last night?  Kobe was on fire."

"Yeah I did catch the game.  It was great.  Is there some reason you're not answering the question directly?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact there is.  I just got a bad case of indigestion from this burrito and it hurts to talk.  Can we pick this up at another time?  Excuse me buddy I need to go to the bathroom.", he said and took the burrito with him him as he headed towards the bathroom. 

And here's how another conversation went, with yet another doctor who is Asian, and does a lot of the work for the Medical Director.

"Hi Dr. W.  I haven't seen you in a week.  Listen, you know most of what goes on around here.  Can you tell me why Dr. A has stopped using us for supplies."

"My Engrish isn't so good.  You talk him."

"What?  You're english was fine last month when I in serviced the account."

"Yeah.  I go back to Mandarin.  Better for me."

"Since when did you start speaking only Mandarin.  You went to Crespi and graduated from USC?!  When did you lose your ability to speak English."

"Today! Gotta go.  Rotsa patients.", and then she ran away.

After those two conversations it was obvious that the doctors were not going to help me secure any business.  So I asked some of the Medical Technicians who I should speak to if I wanted to get some orders.

 They all said the same thing, "Tiffany runs this place.  She has for the last ten years.  You want the docs to order from you.  You gotta win her over.  Otherwise you'll get nothing.  She's the office manager and what she says goes.  Even the doctors listen to her."

I took that to heart, and so I started to work on getting orders from Tiffany.  I set up a few in services and she was nice, but still no orders from the office.  I started to experiment with the in services.  I made up games and gave out candy for the correct answers and the staff started to warm up to me, but still only an occassional "hello" or "how are you" from Tiffany.   She was as cold as ice.   So I had to change my strategy. 

I took it on as a personal goal to find out more about her.  What she liked, what she didn't, and what reps were successful with her, and which ones weren't.  The girls in the office liked me and they were very accomodating and forthcoming with personal information.  She was married, and had two kids which she sent to private school.  She had been married for ten years now happily, and she loved her kids very much.  And I realized this was my way to ingratiate myself to Tiffany, through her children.  I liked kids, and I wished I had some of my own, but I did have 9 nieces and nephews so I had a great deal of exposure to children.  I went down this path, and I hope it would lead to developing some type of relationship with Tiffany, the key person to my success in the office.

So we starting sharing baby stories.  She told me how her first baby got really sick with her as a new mother just freaking out, and then I shared a story where my nephew threw up on me. And then she told me about a time when her little girl had a 105 fever and she was taken to the emergency room, while I shared a story about my niece throwing up on me. It went on like this during a break at an in service until finally she got the idea that I liked kids, or maybe I just liked having them throw up on me.  Regardless, her cool demeanor started to melt, and by the next time I came to her office, she was greeting me and not the other way around.  Everything was going great...

But like all relationships there are peaks and valleys, and while we were at our peak, Tiffany decided she wanted to take our relationship to the next level.  I really didn't know what that mean to her, but to me it meant she was finally going to place an order from my company.  I stopped by for a visit and dropped off a thank you card for her, as I always did.  She called me almost immediately.

"Hi!  Thank you so much for the card!  You made my day.  I'm so excited that I even placed an order for you today.  The first one.  What do you think of that?"

"That's great Tiffany.  Now you just made my day!  Thank you so much.  I really appreciate it."

" No problem.  You deserve it.  Took you long enough to get one.  Hahahaha"

I laughed along with her and then told her to have a great weekend and hung up the phone.  I was so happy I was finally going to start getting orders from this account, it had made my whole Friday complete.  I was beaming from ear to ear when I got a text from a number I didn't recognize. It read:

"What are your plans for the weekend?  Are you planning to misbehave?"

"No not really.  Who is this?"

"Oh.  It's Tiffany silly.  This is my cell phone number.  So are you planning to misbehave?"

At this point I thought this was a little odd, since only recently had we just begun to speak, let alone start sending each other dirty text messages. I usually waited for the 6 month mark before I started sending sexually explicit messages to my contacts.  And besides, she was married with kids so I was taken aback by her desire to reach out to me. I blew it off as just someone wanting attention, and responded accordingly.

" I don't always misbehave, but maybe this weekend I will since you finally placed an order. =)"

" Well if that 's what it takes to get you misbehaving count me in! I'll order from your company all the time."

" Hahahaha.  Thanks so much and have a great weekend."

At this point, I thought it best to not let it go any further, so I tried to cut the text conversation short.  I felt it best to not let her lead me down a dangerous path of miscommunication via text.  But she was not about to give up.

"Are you planning on a memorable weekend?"

"I hope it's memorable."

     She then sent a picture of her in a short skirt.  A very good picture of her since she was an attractive woman, and it had a caption which read:

"I can make it a memorable weekend for sure."

Now I was in a panic.  I had been struggling for years to get this office to place orders, and now that they had finally placed one, I was going to have to sacrifice my soul and my body in order to keep the orders coming.   I didn't want to do this, so I tried to play it off as a joke.

"Nice pic.  Hahaha.  You're so funny Tiffany, and I'm sure that dress would make any weekend for your husband memorable."

" I didn't mean my husband.  I was sending YOU the text"

And this made me start to sweat.  Should I respond, should I not?  If I didn't respond, then she would continue to push the issue, and that would not be good. However if I did respond then she might think that I was down with flirting, and  she would like me to begin sending pics of each other.  I couldn't do that either.  I was not Brett Favre. In fact, I didn't have the "goods" to be Brett Favre.   I decided to respond and tell her I had a girlfriend, maybe this would end the text conversation.

"I appreciate you trying to make my weekend memorable. But you do know I have a girlfriend right?"

"So what if you have a girlfriend.  I have a husband.  Who cares.  Just trying to make both our lives a little more memorable!"

" Hahaha!  Thanks for thinking of me and have a great weekend."

   The conversation ended at that point and for the next 5 hours I didn't receive any texts.  It was 11 pm on a Friday when I received this text from Tiffany:

"Do you like to be tied up?"

" Who is this?"

"Tiffany.  I know it's late but answer the question.  Do you like to be tied up?"

" It's late, and I'm not sure this is too cool.  And no I don't like to be tied up. Good night"

" If you want orders from us, your going to have to let me tie you up.  Otherwise no orders."

By this point, I was pissed off.  I wanted to call her and tell her to fuck off, but instead I took the safer, easier approach:

" Okay no orders then. Good night", I wrote and sent to her phone.

" Don't mess with me or I'll make your life hell."

   Now I was beginning to think she was serious.  And what could she possibly do to me at this point.  The only record of our conversation was via these texts and it was clear she was crazy so I just turned off my phone, and went to sleep.   The next morning I woke up and had 5 missed calls from this crazy bitch on my phone.  I checked my voice mail messages and each messaged didn't sound like her but almost like the devil himself.  She was using one of those voice modulation boxes to place an effect upon her voice and make it sound deep and scary.  It was almost surreal listening to each message and she got progressively more and more angry that I wasn't answering the phone.    As I was listening to the last message my phone started vibrating.  It was her. I was pissed so I answered.

"Heh M this is Tiffany."

" Yes Tiffany.  This better not be another dirty message."

" No that's why I called.  Listen, I lost my phone yesterday and my kids had taken it and were sending all of these nasty texts to people I know and leaving messages on people's phones.   Sorry, but did they call you at all last night."

I was so relieved.  "Yes.  Yes they did.  They left all kinds of messages.  Pretty nasty"

" I am so sorry.  Hopefully you weren't offended by any of the messages."

" No I'm okay.  That last message was pretty bad I do have to say. I can't believe it was from your kids.  How old are they anyway?"

" They're 9 and 12 years old.  Why?  How bad was the message?"

" It was pretty nasty.  Something about tying me up and violating me  with a wooden spooin and all this other stuff."

" Oh my god really.  That was what offended you?"

" Well yeah.  It was pretty disgusting."

" I'm sorry.  But that actually WAS   a message I left for you.  And since it's just us talking and no text, you can't prove I ever said this, but I do want to tie you up and violate you with a spoon."

   I had no idea how to respond to that statement.  I felt like I was about to be violated by some oversexed version of Julia Child. I was speechless.  But Tiffany made sure to finish my statement.

" I hope you liked the message. Call me when you need an order." , she said and hung up the phone.

I just stood there, my cell phone still pinned to my ear, thinking "This is so weird.  I can't believe she wanted to use a wooden spoon.  If it was a spatula, then maybe.  No, no, no!  What am I thinking.  No order is worth the humiliation."

Keep in mind that you might want or wish for something in life, and unfortunately it might not be all that you were expecting it to be.  So be careful what you wish for, because those wishes might come true, but not for you. 

-M

This Time It's Personal

In order to be successful in sales, you need to open up, expose yourself to your customers. Now for all you weirdos out there, I mean expose your life, emotions, and personal idiosyncrancies, and not your flesh. Share things other than how your product works, or what benefits the customer might get from trying your product or service.  You need to differentiate yourself.  Even if you're just setting up new accounts only, how is the prospect going to distinguish YOU from everyone else?  So listen up people, "IT'S PERSONAL".

I'll give you a personal example.  Once I was set to conduct an in service, or give a presentation, with another sales rep and we were going to "tag team" the account.  I developed a Power Point presentation, ordered all this food, and we were set to go into the call and present together.  A few days before the meeting she rang me up and asked what she could bring, and I advised her water or drinks would be good since I hadn't bought any yet.  And then as she was about to hang up she said,

"I know just what to bring.  I'll bring the water but something else too. Ooooh IT is gonna be good!", and she hung up the phone with a giddy little laugh. 

Keep in mind this rep was very pretty, but also very unpredicable so I was a little unclear about what IT was, she was planning to bring. And I thought to myself, "What is this crazy bitch planning to do?  Because if she shows up in a trench coat and lingerie underneath, I am definitely going to let her go first."

The next few days were rough because I was concerned about what she was planning to do, and when I called and asked what her IT was going to be, she just answered,

 "I'm not telling.  I want it to be a surprise!"

But that wasn't good enough for me so I followed up, "Laura your a little bit crazy and unpredictable.  So in reference to the IT factor, there aren't any 'toys' involved with this surprise. Right?"

"Oh yes there'll be toys.  You'll see.", was her non descript answer and then she laughed and hung up on me.

At this point, I am freaking out, and all kinds of images are trapsing through my mind.  I'm picturing her with a dildo, and she's slapping it in the face of the male technicians and the doctors.  The make up of the clinic was singularly male, with the exception of one lesbian, and therefore my fears were not wholly unsubstantiated.  In my head, I'm seeing her with a variety of weird sexual toys, writhing on the ground with the audience entranced, and behind her I'm reviewing a Power Point presentation on the merits and cost savings of our products.  I wasn't sure if we were going to add more business,...or end up in jail.

We were scheduled to meet in the front lobby of the hospital and then make our way downstairs to the clinic. It was raining on the day of the presentation, so naturally she did show up in a full length coat and she was carrying a box.  My stomach lurched a bit when I saw that she was also wearing leather boots.  They weren't thigh high boots, but they seemed adequate enough for anyone deciding to engaged in lewd conduct.  Naturally, my fears were not allayed. She greeted me with a smile and a hug.

" Where's the waters?", I said.

"Oh shit I forgot.  Ah once they see this they won't even care about the water.", she responded.

"So what's in the box?", I asked.

"You'll see.", she answered.

" What's the big deal.  Just tell me what's in the box."

"No. Besides I can't open it here in the lobby.  People will try to take it.'

"What?"

"Can we just go downstairs. We're running late.  We better take the stairs, the elevators here suck.", she said and headed for the back stairwell.  I quickly followed, and we were on the back stairs, with the heels of her boots clicking loudly and echoing off the walls.

"Did you bring the food?" she asked as we descended the steps.  My mind was elsewhere, and I was trying to see down inside her coat.  In fact, I deliberately walked behind her down the stairs to see if I could discern what she was wearing underneath. 

"Huh? What food?", I responded still trying to peek down her coat and I did see an ample amount of cleavage from my vantage point on the stairwell.

"The food from the caterer." she said, and when we reached the bottom of the stairs, she then turned to look at me and the top button of her coat had come undone, so I was staring directly at her exposed chest. "Did you get a good look?"

"Yes.  Yes I did.", I said still transfixed by her open coat, and not listening to a word that was just said.

"You did!" she said obviously offended.  I took my eyes off her chest, slid back to reality, and looked her in the eye.

"I was referring to the food.  Not you.  I took care of the food.  Yes the food."

She then giggled and turned around and headed through the double doors into the clinic.  I followed feeling embarassed and still nervous about what was going to happen.  She came in and the whole room lit up.  She walked through the reception area and into the back, putting the box down on the table where the food had already been set up by the caterer.  She still had her coat on as she was greeting the doctors, nurses, and technicians, while I walked behind her and offered handshakes instead of hugs.  They were more happy to see her than me; obviously. 

Finally one of the doctors asked, "What's in the box?'

"Oh you'll see.  Let me take off my coat first. It's warm in here", she responded and waved her hand like a fan in front of her face.

"Only since you got here.", one of the techinicians chimed in, and then they all laughed.

"Well aren't you sweet." , she said smiling, and then reached for the top button of her coat.  She knew everyone was looking at her, and waiting for the big "reveal".  Therefore, she slowly undid each of her buttons, for what seemed like an eternity.  As she did so, anticipation from everyone was building, and in the back of my mind I was thinking, "Please don't be wearing just a bra and panties."
Her hand moved slowly over each button, and when she finished with the last button she slowly rolled her shoulders back and slid her coat off to reveal a low cut, very stylish blouse, with a short black skirt, and of course her leather boots.  It was a tasteful , yet sexy outfit, enough to show off her body, but not sleazy enough for her to look like a slut.  Needless to say, I was both aroused and relieved.  But there was still the box sitting on the table.

"Okay, now what's in the box?", the same technician asked.

" I'll show you." was her answer and she seemed way too excited for this not to be the start of some stage performance.  I thought I heard the first few chords of Def Leppard's "Pour Some Sugar On Me" in the background.

She bent over the table, and seem to do it in a way that she seemed all to sexual, as if she had rehearsed this many times before.  She obviously knew how to use her sexuality to her advantage, but she did it in a way that was more a flirtation than a solicitation.  She opened the box with her backside to all of us, picked it up off the table, and spun around quickly.

"Ta da!" she shouted and held out the box in front of her.  Everyone stood up, and looked inside to see a CAKE!  A rectangular white cake with all kinds of different colored frostings, and toys all over the thing.  In the middle of the cake was written "Happy Holidays!".  It was a beautiful cake and I was both relieved and disappointed that there wasn't more in the box than just a cake.  But everyone in the room loved it!

"I baked it myself, just for you guys!", she said and set the open box back down on the table.

Everyone gathered around the cake and then each person thanked her enthusiastically.  They didn't even notice the mounds of food that were garnered around the open box; just the cake.  Each tech, doctor, or nurse,  noticed a different toy, or a different type of frosting, and pointed out its merits as if they were viewing a painting in a museum.  

"It took me 4 hours to make it, but you all deserve it."

The medical director for the clinic looked over the cake smiled and said, "Sometimes food tastes better if you know who made it.  I'm going to enjoy this knowing that it came from you.", and he gave her a big hug.

I don't know what kind of sick message he might have been implying , but if you take what he said literally, he seemed genuinely appreciative that she took the time to make the cake.  For my part, all I had done was call in an order, had someone make the food, and even deliver it.  I had made a phone call. That's it!   And they didn't eat all the food I ordered but there wasn't one piece of cake remaining when we left the clinic.  She made it personal and they loved it!  That's how to differentiate yourself.  MAKE IT A PERSONAL.  People appreciate it more if they know you're thinking about them and that it comes from the heart.

It was lesson well learned and more importantly, we got 4 orders from the clinic that day!

 Have a great day selling!

-M

Break Out Of Your Daily Routine

Too often I find myself doing the same mundane routine daily.  Get up, feed the dog, watch a snippet of morning news, read newspapers online, check my emails, update my stupid Salesforce numbers, and then get ready for the day.  All this happens in the short span of about an hour.  These are habits that have been effective and have led to success in my career, but they don't get me excited to get out of bed in the morning.  In fact, the other morning I was thinking, "Do I wanna get out of bed?  Why don't I just stay here and call my customers to come and visit me?  Maybe they'll buy more if they think I'm sick?"

And then of course my dog brought me back to reality and looked at me as if to say, "Don't be ridiculous.  Your customers are not going to come to you stupid.  Now let's go for a walk.  It's beautiful outside."

I believe that we create our own problems, our own worries, and our own fears, and sometimes I think we do this out of boredom.  WE HAVE IT WAY TOO EASY.  We aren't in fear of our lives everyday we wake up like people in other countries. We live in a great country, with a high standard of living, and this creates apathy and boredom.  Why do you think kids are playing video games all the time? They're bored, and instead of using their imagination, they have someone else create a fantasy for them on the screen.  We need to get out of our routines!  Break out and change them, so we can infuse fun into the day.  Here are some things you can try to put some excitement back in your day.

1. Start At The End - I normally end my workday with a workout, to relieve stress.  But one morning, I just decided that I wanted to get up and go to the gym to get the adrenaline pumping and start the day on a physical high.  It worked, I felt great all day and was enthusiastic.  I had lots of energy and my customers took notice.  So whatever it may be, reading emails, the newspaper, breakfast, etc.  Change it up and maybe considering doing the first thing last and the last thing first before you head out to the field.

2. Change Your Route When You Commute - If you live where I do, a car is essential, but the commute is often terrible.  One day when I had to head way across town, I got up extra early so I would miss all the traffic and I started to head out but then I changed my mind.  I traveled a completely different way and took a different freeway and side streets to my territory.  And what happened?  I discover a whole new slew of prospects which I didn't even know existed.  It worked out really well for me psychologically and financially.

3. Order Something Different - People are so finicky about their coffee, their food, their lives.  It's so boring.  If you order the same skinny vanilla latte at Starbucks get something different.  Or if you always go to Starbucks, try a different coffee shop and order something you normally wouldn't order.  Something outrageous just to change up your day.   Don't be afraid to stop and smell a different cup of coffee.

4. Honey I Forgot The Kids - Many household have both the mom and dad working and the commute can be tough for both parents.  If your wife or husband normally drops off the kids for school or daycare, offer to take them once in while.  this will give you time to bind with your children and relieve your poor spouse who will appreciate the gesture greatly. Also it will be a good way to start off your morning and it will remind you why your out there selling.  If I have to explain this to you, then you might want to do a self assessment of your priorities.  And please don't forget to pick the kids up in the afternoon too!

5. Alter Your Approach -  A lot of sales people do the same thing day in and day out, week in and week out, and that is boring, boring, boring.  I understand the idea is to "mirror" your prospects but if you see regular customers that gets old real fast.  I was in a hospital last week and I decided on my way up the elevator to sing a song when I came into the office.  It was a song that was stuck in my head and so I just walked in and I was humming it as I entered.  The nurses there recognized the song and soon everyone was singing it , and it just made the call go so much better.  Don't be afraid to be real and change your approach.  People appreciate something different.  They want to look forward to seeing you, and not dread it.

So if you're stuck in rut, and keep doing the same thing everyday, then try some of these tips to break out and have a great day! 

Good luck and good selling!