Call it strong self talk or self fulfilling prophecy, but expecting to be treated a certain way will help influence others to treat you that way. Sort of reminds me of the old saying, “you get what you expect”. Consider the new manager you had years ago – he was your junior in many ways and in his interactions with you expected you to treat him as your junior. How well did that work out for him?
Years ago, I was selected for my first Managers job. The company was growing and 3 of us new managers decided to encourage each other, meet regularly, and discuss things we called SMS (secret manager stuff). We were proud and confident. However about 5 months into the job we each discovered how hard it was to get respect for our titles and position from our customers. For months we discussed it, read books, talked to experience managers, etc. Our frustration continued to mount as we tried different things with little success. We invested in our appearance buying new clothes. We hung out at the restaurants and bars our customers frequented. We even got involved in social / community causes supported by our customers. But still, we were not treated as executives or as equals to the people we called on at our customers. We were almost ready to just give up.
Maybe as a last resort, we looked more introspectively in the mirror. We began to catalog our behaviors, our language, and our decisions. We had an Ah-ha moment. We saw very clearly we were not exhibiting the behavior of an executive. We made changes in our actions, perspectives, and attitudes. The response was incredible and palpable. We had cause for celebration because we now could interact with our customers more as equals and not just as sales managers.
Other Related / Recommended Posts:
- Rule 82 – If your customer has a dusty collection of trade show trinkets, expect your proposal to join them.
- Rule 57 – What your customer says unflattering about your product, was what your competitor told them.
- Rule 79 – Always make a last minute pit stop before your customer calls. It will prevent the customer from concentrating on your lunch stain instead of your presentation.
