I had a Dr’s appointment a couple of weeks ago, and you know the routine. With the fear of over divulging, I was allowed to keep my pants on, so I had that going for me, but as we were making small talk the Doc asked what I do for a living. I told him I work for myself as a financial planner, to which he asked how it was going. I told him it was good, and after 15 years it was pretty steady. He replied with, “I told my wife when we first met that if I had to sell anything for a living we would be broke.”
It was an interesting comment with no malintent behind it, I’m sure, but it was still interesting. I surely don’t fancy myself much of a salesman. I am missing the height, the smooth demeanor, the fancy car, the wardrobe and I’ll just put a pin in it right there. I don’t consider myself a salesman, but I don’t disagree that every person, regardless of job or employment needs to “sell” (for lack of a better word) each and every day. To get my kids in the car, I need to hard sell them or bring in the heavy threats. To help clients change their behavior or buy into a new idea that betters their finances, I need to sell them enough to get their approval or peak their interest to want to hear more. I need to sell the cable provider on why our office should get a reduced rate. The Doctor, ironically, in a relatively pressure free pitch, and also being unaware of it, needed to sell me on why I should continue to see him.
I would now like to sell you on having a fantastic weekend, Happy Friday!
(Update – next week there will one additional post as a follow up to our January Challenge post)