Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Covers

What do Mike Tyson, Willie Nelson, Michael Jackson, Donald Trump, Dave Ramsey, Burt Reynolds, MC Hammer, Tammy Wynette and Abraham Lincoln all have in common? They were all broke after being wealthy. According to Sports Illustrated, 78% of former NFL players are bankrupt within 2 years after retirement. This goes to show you that those people who "should" have money often do not have money. Appearances are not everything. If I were to ask you what a rich person looked like you probably have a preconceived notion in your head that you would default to. Pretty much everyone does. A rich person has... or wears ... or drives... or lives... . The reality is that you can't judge the proverbial book by its cover. Plenty of rich people drive the same thing they drove years ago. They wear Walmart specials and clip coupons. They do these things because these things helped make them rich. These habits got them there--hard work, frugality, staying out of debt. I see it very often in my job. The smelly guy walks in to the office and wants to sell a $500,000 house that is debt free and pay cash for a different $500,000 property. Or maybe it is on a smaller scale. They want to sell the debt free $150,000 house and travel in the paid for $100,000 RV for 8 months out of the year. My point is this, in our modern world it is a tremendous mistake to judge someone's "value" based on their appearance--maybe even more so than it used to be. Instead, treat everyone as "million dollar clients."

It is rewarding to you to know that everyone got great service and everyone was treated well. No one can say you favored one other the other because everyone was served well. Plus, that kind of attention will only get you raving fans. The other thing I would encourage you to do is to take an honest look at yourself. Do you pre-judge people? Chances are, you do. It is human nature, part of our defense mechanisms to look for potential threats. In the future, try to analyze your prejudices and determine if they are founded or just part of the culture you grew up in. Becoming good at this will change your life.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

One of my favorite things to say (mostly in my head because it looks bad when folks see you talking to yourself) is, "I am not a mind-reader. I do not know everyone's life story, nor their goals and dreams. I have to treat them all like they are dying to take part in what I have to offer, because on some level, what I have to offer can benefit EVERYONE." :) If you treat folks like they have a million bucks, you'll make them FEEL like a million bucks...and if you make someone feel good, chances are you will be their first choice should they need your services again! But it's important beyond business dealings, too. Often, I see people be more polite to strangers than they are to their own family. Even when we KNOW someone's "net worth", we should still treat them as though they have much more. Good point you've made here to get us all thinking!!

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