WHAT YOU SEE DEPENDS ON WHERE YOU SIT

Last week my wife, my daughters and I sat down to buy our tickets to Cirque du Soleil. We sat around the computer to select our seats and the web site had the absolute best application I had ever seen before. It application allowed you to view what seats were available and then if you clicked on the seat a new window popped up that showed you how the stage would look form that seat. I had so much fun, clicking seat after seat and seeing all the different vantage points.

After the novelty wore off (about 45 minutes later, I am so easily amused) we all sat down for dinner. My daughter Alyson started to talk about something that happened at work. As she was talking about her opinion of what was going on I said to her, “It all depends on where you sit”. For the next few minutes we had a pretty good debate about the issue and when we were done we agreed to disagree.

When I sat down to compose today’s blog, I was thinking about the tickets and the cool views the application let me see, and about the debate I had with my daughter. The saying, it all depends on where you sit, kept coming back to me. I was thinking about how often where you sit changes everything.

This certainly comes to life when you think about sales. Where you sit, the sales rep or the customer makes a tremendous difference as to how things are viewed. When a customer buys a product or service it is an expense, when a rep sells a product or service it is an investment. When something goes wrong it is a “BIG PROBLEM” to the customer, it is just a small bump in the road for the rep. This 180 degree difference in points of view are what sometimes not only costs reps sales but in some cases cost reps customers.

Just as sitting in different seats under the tent for Cirque, sitting on different sides of an issue will cause you to see things differently as well. Think of it like this. When you buy a sheet of red poster board both sides are red. Now without you knowing it I painted one side blue. I sat you and another rep across from each other and carried the poster board between the two of you. You see the red side and because poster board is the same color on both sides you think the other rep is seeing red also. However from where they are sitting they are seeing BLUE! If I then said to you, so how did you like the blue color you would think I was nuts, but the other rep would consider it a reasonable question. Depending on where you sit, you might be seeing very different things.

So what do we need to do as reps to keep from getting ourselves into conflict with our customers? First realize that what you see and how you see it depends in where you sit. Keep an open mind to other peoples view points and try and do your best to see things from their seat.

Here is another good saying for you, THE MIND IS LIKE A PARASHOOT, IT WORKS BEST WHEN IT IS OPEN!

Next, as reps we need to minimize our opinions and maximize the customers. If we can make their opinions our biggest priority and start to see things from where they sit we will be better prepared to assist the customer in making a good decision.

Finally we need to be honest with ourselves. Ask yourself, am I looking at this the way I am because it is truly the right thing, or am I looking at it the way I am because it will lead to a bigger sales and I am greedy? Greed may pay the bills this month, but truthfulness will pay the bills for years to come.

Before I end this, I want each of you to do a little experiment today. Go into any room in your home and sit in a chair. Now look around very carefully. Look at the pictures on the walls, the books on shelves, the TV, whatever you have in the room. Now change seats and look around. You will find you notice different things. From one seat the picture looked straight from the second you see it is crooked. From one seat you don’t see all the dust on the book case; from the other you see it all. As you look around you will really start to realize that, WHAT YOU SEE REALLY DOES DEPEND ON WHERE YOU SIT.

Lorin