http://corpwhore.com/I’ve said many times before that I work in sales. One character trait that’s essential to being successful in sales is the willingness to help people identify their needs, and to provide a solution that meets those needs. I usually don’t have a problem doing that – usually. I consider myself a pretty tolerant person, one who doesn’t usually let his own opinions or prejudices dictate the level of service that I provide. However, i’ve become a different person altogether since i’ve joined this company; having compiled an unofficial list of people that i’ve just decided not to work with. I don’t believe that every potential client deserves my level expertise, and have no problem with not accommodating to the undesirables:
My “cousins” – I was raised in a predominantly black neighborhood, but it wasn’t the “hood” by any means. Working class families who made their kids go to school; parks and playgrounds; curfews and a sense of community. My parents always stressed the need to speak with the utmost articulation and to make yourself visually presentable at all times, especially in scholastic and professional situations. Which is why I immediately get turned off when one of my “cousins” walks in my office with a doo-rag, house shoes, and pants hanging below his ass. I’m not walking over to help. I don’t want people to associate me with that shit. More importantly, I don’t want co-workers feeling comfortable enough to send them to me when they walk in. My skin crawls at the sound of broken English. I have as much trouble understanding them as everybody else. I take it as a personal insult because i’ve worked so hard over the years to master the English language; I feel like I have the right to pass judgment on you if you don’t live up to the linguistic standards laid before us. Go sit in the lobby.
The Entitled Consumer – Whoever coined the phrase “the customer is always right” needs to be drawn and quartered. That statement is the single most entitling sentence in the English canon. I probably exaggerate, but that’s how I strongly I feel against it. If that were the case, i’d just consider myself a “customer” 24/7 and never be wrong. The biggest issue that I have with that idiotic cliche is that it leads some to assume that they can have everything their way every single time. If they can’t, then they complain. Usually to me. Even when I explain all of the options that we make available to our clients, there’s always a handful of clowns who expect more, and challenge any notion of me or the company not being able to bend to their idiotic whims.
Freebirds – People are cheap. I should know – i’m one of them. When I ask “what can I do for you?” And your answer contains the word “free” in the first sentence, i’m done. No argument. I’m not going to attempt to sell to you. Go that way, please. It’s my personal belief that “free” denotes a perceived lack of value. I also believe in payingfor goods and services that are worth their cost. When I sit down at a restaurant, I pay according to the level of service that I was provided; I don’t nitpick the experience to look for holes that might allow me to get a Free meal. So when clients come into my office expecting a host of goods and services with ambitions of not paying a dime for them, then our conversation will be short-lived.
-Willie-