Being sick with the flu this past week put me in front of the television and iPad for inordinate amounts of time. This helped me catch a rerun of one of the funniest movies ever made,
Tommy Boy, with the late Chris Farley.
In one scene, Tommy and his friend Richard are trying to sell brake pads and Richard has the following exchange with a man at one of the companies:
Richard: "Of course I understand what 'no' means. But if I took no for an answer, I'd probably wind up on a street corner selling spicy hotdogs and wearing a funny hat, right? It makes sense, doesn't it?"
Man: "Look, I've been doing business with Callahan since I hung up my shingle. But I don't like you. Probably never will. You're a smug unhappy little man, and you treat people like they were idiots."
In the scene, the 'expert' salesman talking down to the customer is exaggerated. But the point is valid for all of us that we can't be condescending or demeaning in any way if we want others to respect us.
And if they don't respect us, they're not going to hire us. They're not going to buy our stuff. Or pay for our services. Or buy our e-books. Or sign up for our apps or newsletters. And so on. A good lesson to mull over this week.
Now on to this week's hand-picked productivity links!
