Look the other way

Last week, some anonymous reader posted a comment on this blog. That's brilliant - I often ask for comments so it's always nice to see that people are reading what I have to say and are even motivated further to write something themselves.

Sadly, this same person felt that all of my blog posts allude to my having some sort of chip on my shoulder and that I should consider getting out of sales all together. It's an interesting theory - certainly my blog does have a certain acerbic wit to it, but then that's just my writing style. I poke fun at the world in the hope that the world collectively says "Hey Paul, we're not all like that you know and whilst we're here, can we please order some merchandise?"

For the most part, this blog has done its job. I have a presence on line and my customers and I regularly talk about what I've written and how it brought a smile to their day. So if a chip on my shoulder is bringing a little joy into people's lives then I welcome it. In fact I'm off to deep fry some more potatoes for the other shoulder too!

And so to this week's thought. Have you asked someone how business was lately? I ask it all the time, and I also get it asked of me. Now we know that there's a recession on, but has everyone's response been "terrible". No? Me neither. I get people telling me that sales are up and that morale is great. I get people telling me that they're hiring staff, rebranding, expanding their marketing - the news is all good!

So what's their secret ingredient? More importantly, are they prepared to share it with us? No - and it's not because they're mean, it's because in ANY economic situation, some will be up whereas others will be down. This isn't rocket science and you don't need degrees in Economics to work it out. The fact is that anything in life relies upon BALANCE. You cannot have an up without a down.

Some believe that where you are depends upon how you look at things. I suppose that's true. When things are quiet on the sales front, you can either look at your shoes and wait for the phone to ring, or you could start thinking of more inventive ways to attract new business. We are, all of us, surrounded by opportunity - it just might not be knocking as loudly as it used to!

So how are your customers feeling about their business? Have you asked them? It seems that as time goes on in the ever so politely named 'Economic Downturn', people don't want to ask the question any more. If they do, it's with a tone that suggests they expect the answer to be negative. We've stopped asking, but we haven't stopped caring.

You know, when you take the 'sale' out of a conversation with a customer, incredible things start to happen. You actually start to listen to each other. You learn things that you wished you'd known for years. You discover more shared interests, common contacts and aspirations. The nature of your relationship can change in the blink of an eye into something so much more rewarding.

The people that are doing well are more than happy to tell you how they're doing it, and the people that aren't doing so well are even happier to listen to the teachings of someone who is.

There are so many gains to be made every single day, and it's those people that are pushing for those gains that are telling you how great things are. They're not deluded - they're positive. I'm speaking from personal experience here - I myself have not had a great month, but I've had so many fantastic conversations in this quiet period that I know I'm going to have a great August.

I do hope that you can find the space for some optimistic thinking in your day and if you're struggling, then just give me a call or drop me a line and I'll see what I can do to cheer you up. I charge one smile per session.