“I’ve learned that people will forget what you’ve said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” —Maya Angelou
Growing up I was fortunate to have a father that loved to share his stories about his most work successes. My Dad graduated from UT Austin in the 1940’s and worked his way up to be a VP at a large container company. On his way up the corporate ladder he met with thousands of customers along the way. He traveled a lot but when he came home, he would regale us with his latest sales success story.
One of the things he emphasized about selling was to make yourself as a salesperson to be different from all the others and do the unexpected so that they would remember you. One example I remember was, he had a client who loved fresh corn on the cob, something he learned during one of his sales calls. He made a note of that and the next time we took a trip to Indiana to go water skiing, he stopped on the side of the road and picked up a huge box of sweet yellow and white corn. Then, he shipped it to his client’s office with a note telling his client how much he appreciated his business.
This was a common approach to his clients, and they loved him for it. He made them feel special, he rarely, if ever, lost a client to his competition even if they had a lower price. At home, when I’d bring a girlfriend over to meet my parents, he greeted them warmly, and would go out of his way to help them feel welcome. Even when the girls would eventually break up with me, if I ran into them, they would ask how my Dad was LOL.
The same can be true in one’s everyday life. If you make the effort to make the person that is with you feel special, they will remember you fondly. It’s not always easy to give someone your undivided attention, we get distracted or in a hurry to get on to the next thing on our to do list.
Who can you help feel special today?
Proverbs 27:2, Ephesians 4:32, Romans 15:2
TSK
Growing up I was fortunate to have a father that loved to share his stories about his most work successes. My Dad graduated from UT Austin in the 1940’s and worked his way up to be a VP at a large container company. On his way up the corporate ladder he met with thousands of customers along the way. He traveled a lot but when he came home, he would regale us with his latest sales success story.
One of the things he emphasized about selling was to make yourself as a salesperson to be different from all the others and do the unexpected so that they would remember you. One example I remember was, he had a client who loved fresh corn on the cob, something he learned during one of his sales calls. He made a note of that and the next time we took a trip to Indiana to go water skiing, he stopped on the side of the road and picked up a huge box of sweet yellow and white corn. Then, he shipped it to his client’s office with a note telling his client how much he appreciated his business.
This was a common approach to his clients, and they loved him for it. He made them feel special, he rarely, if ever, lost a client to his competition even if they had a lower price. At home, when I’d bring a girlfriend over to meet my parents, he greeted them warmly, and would go out of his way to help them feel welcome. Even when the girls would eventually break up with me, if I ran into them, they would ask how my Dad was LOL.
The same can be true in one’s everyday life. If you make the effort to make the person that is with you feel special, they will remember you fondly. It’s not always easy to give someone your undivided attention, we get distracted or in a hurry to get on to the next thing on our to do list.
Who can you help feel special today?
Proverbs 27:2, Ephesians 4:32, Romans 15:2
TSK
