Tuesday, June 16, 2009

We Tried That. That Stuff Don't Work!

It is amazing how many times I have heard these two phrases. We are always offering suggestions to improve business and much of what we offer is tried and proven over and over again. Yet, we still hear these phrases.

I've learned over a long period of time that "swimming upstream" with people is not good for me or them, so when I hear these phrases, I might swim upstream a stroke or two and take another approach with them, but if I don't hear any interest in a few seconds, I completely back off and agree with them and find a way to leave quickly.

This just happened yesterday again and I just turned and floated back downstream and let them continue to say as I was leaving, "we tried that and it didn't work. . ." Oh, he even said how long he tried it: he tried it for four weeks. Whew! I'm glad he gave it his all. Four weeks. That's a long time. He also said that the customers came in, but they didn't act as he wanted them to, so he quit it. Well, there ya go! Four weeks, customers not doing as we want, we're out of here. . .

Of course, you are more willing to hear the whole pitch and to listen to the ideas and to see if they make sense and to try to understand, right? If others are successful using the idea, you might think that it could pay off for you as well, right? It could happen.

Let's change the phrase: We tried that and it changed our business forever! It is the most successful thing we ever did! Thank you!

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