Friday, May 14, 2010

Judging Others

I made a $6500 sale not too long ago. Yes, you read correctly. $6500! He didn’t look very prosperous. He smelled strongly of tobacco, his clothes weren’t the neatest or the cleanest, but he bought my most expensive bed in our store and he paid cash!

I must confess that when he first came in he didn’t impress me. Yes, I was guilty of “judging a book by its cover.”

This wasn’t the first time I have had to learn that lesson.

Remember Susan Boyle, the Scottish singing sensation? She doesn’t look like a singer, but my goodness, wait until she opens her mouth. What a clear, musical, lyrical sound she produces. She is a true song-bird and she has taken the world by storm. In a lineup, would we have chosen her as the one most likely to sing her way into our hearts? Probably not.

How often do we judge others, and miss fantastic opportunities to know someone marvelous and wonderful? Not only do we miss opportunities in sales situations when we misjudge customers, we misjudge meeting and befriending interesting people just because we judge them based on their dress, their skin color, their social standing, their nationality and a myriad of other judgments we dish out at will.

According to Wikipedia, the very common phrase “don't judge a book by its cover" is a metaphorical phrase which means "don't determine the worth of something based on its appearance”. It is probably the most common expression used in English to convey vanity.

There are very valuable individuals sitting out there behind desks, walking into our retail establishments, and in those offices. They need your goods and services. Find ways to win their friendship, and above all else, Never Judge a Book by Its Cover!

No comments:

Post a Comment