Despite Unlimited Potential, I’m No Salesperson
Why do we do things? Okay, that’s too broad… Why do we choose to do one thing instead of another? That’s too abstract… Let’s start with an example.
A college student at the start of finals week has a few, defined tasks to complete. She needs to turn in two term papers and prepare for and take three exams. It’s 7 PM on the first day of finals week. What does she do? Obviously she tidies her desk, cleans her room, and then starts vacuuming her whole apartment! What else would she do when cleaning seems so appealing?
What’s happening here is that cleaning seems like a more appealing option because it is A) a productive activity that we all have to do from time to time and B) something better defined than working on a paper or studying.
This is exactly what Carnegie wants us to do with the next principle: Make people WANT to do the thing that you want them to do.
Principle 3: Arouse in the other person an eager want. To get what we want from another person, we must forget our own perspective and begin to see things from the point of view of others. When we can combine our desires with their wants, they become eager to work with us and we can mutually achieve our objectives.
This is another principle that makes the most sense when you put it into a sales context. The salesperson wants to make a sale. The potential customer has a problem that must be solved. And, ideally, those two things can combine together to make everyone better off.
But what about for me? In what circumstances can I deploy this principle? I gave it a try at work today. In a weekly meeting where we review progress on a project, we got to discussing a particular piece of analysis (some interviews) that wasn’t progressing as planned. I tried asking questions about the analysis and then described a way that I thought the analysis could be completed, highlighting how quick it could be done and how valuable the results might be.
And what happened? So far, nothing. But maybe… over time… I actually have no idea, because it’s hard to see in this circumstance what I’m getting out of the whole deal. I want the project to succeed, but I’m not in charge of this piece. So until it is delayed so much that more help is needed, I am unlikely to have much involvement.
In other words, I need to be more patient and find a better case where my wants line up with someone else’s, and then I can …
Try to see it [their] way
Life is very short, and there’s no time
For fussing and fighting, my friend
I have always thought that it’s a crime,
So I will ask you once again
Try to see it my way,
Only time will tell if I am right or I am wrong
While you see it your way
There’s a chance that we may fall apart before too long
We can work it out,
We can work it out
