Did you ever notice how you place much more faith in ideas you discover for yourself than in ideas that are handed to you by others? If so, then doesn’t it stand to reason that it’s bad judgment to try and ram your opinion down the throats of others? Wouldn’t it be wiser to make suggestions and let the other person think out the conclusion for them self?
Adolph Seltz, a former student of Dale Carnegie Training, suddenly found himself confronted with the necessity of injecting enthusiasm into a discouraged and disorganized group of car salesmen. Calling a sales meeting, he urged his men to tell him exactly what they expected from him. As they talked, he wrote their ideas on a blackboard.
Then he said, “I’ll give you all these qualities you expect from me. Now I want you to tell me what I have a right to expect from you.”
The replies came quickly: Loyalty, honesty, initiative, optimism, team work, eight hours a day of enthusiastic work. One man volunteered to work fourteen hours a day. The meeting ended with a new courage, a new inspiration, and Mr. Seltz reported that the increase in sales had been phenomenal.
Seltz said, “The men had made a sort of moral bargain with me, and as long as I lived up to my part in it, they were determined to live up to theirs.”
No one likes to feel that he or she is being sold something or told to do something. We much prefer to feel that we are buying of our own accord or acting on our own ideas. We like to be consulted about our wishes, our wants, and our thoughts. By doing exactly that, Adolph Seltz solicited the cooperation of all his salesmen and increased the number of cars that were sold.
The next time you need the cooperation of others, make sure to incorporate their thoughts and wishes into your strategy and you’ll be more likely to attain your goals.
This post is brought to you by the good folks at Dale Carnegie Training of Michigan, providers of professional development and management development courses and information in Michigan. We would love to connect with you on Facebook and Twitter @micarnegie.
Photo credit: freedigitalphotos.net/David Castillo Dominici
Send to Kindle