Last month was Fathers Day here in the UK. And if you’re a father, like me, you get to put your feet up for a whole day, have lots of attention and get the Fathers Day Card treatment.
And it’s the cards that tickle me everytime. They’re just so corny, so stereotypical of a dad. Beer swigging, football watching, bad fashion sense, always moaning about the bills, tissues in cardigans.
To cap it all, my children think it’s for real. You see, perception is reality isn’t it. What we perceive something to be, is our own reality and we treat it accordingly. Our perception of people is what we believe in and it affects how we treat them.
In sales and coaching we do need to be careful how we perceive people because it will become your reality. I’ve seen many life assurance salespeople who are given a list of client types and their perceived needs. This is dangerous, as it impairs their perception and how they handle people.
I’ve seen coaches think that new sales people need lots of guidance because they’re new and therefore dominate the coaching session and do too much telling.
No, it’s wrong, “I’m not a number” was the famous cry.
The trick is to keep an open mind, gauge your customer first before making assumptions. Be wary of:
- How you typically treat your high net worth clients
- How you handle your business clients
- How you treat the single bachelor clients
- Treating the under 25’s in the same way
This younger generation, the Gen Y’s, will love you for this individuality you push on them. This generation are into uniqueness and making a difference, why else would mobile phone ringtone sales be so buoyant and tattoos are the favourite topic in the playground. Distinctiveness is the key to influencing them.
And if you could see me last Fathers Day Sunday. Was I a typical father? I was beer swigging, football watching, wearing nothing fashionable, constantly moaning about the bills…and…I had tissues in my cardigan. Maybe the card designers got it right for us Dads.
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