WHAT YOU HAVE HERE IS A FAILURE TO COMMUNICATE

Remember when we were kids, we played the game Telephone? The following is a grown-up’s version of the game.

Colonel to his executive officer: Tomorrow evening at approximately 2000 hours Halley's Comet will be visible in this area, an event which occurs only once every 75 years. Have the men fall out in the battalion area in fatigues and I will explain this rare phenomenon to them. In case of rain, we will not be able to see anything, so assemble the men in the theater and I will show them films of it.

Exec to company commanders: By order of the colonel tomorrow at 2000 hours, Halley's Comet will appear above the battalion area. If it rains, fall the men out in fatigues then march to the theater where the rare phenomenon will take place, something which occurs only once every 75 years.

Company commander to lieutenant: By order of the colonel in fatigues at 2000 hours tomorrow evening, the phenomenal Halley's Comet will appear in the theater. In case of rain in the battalion area, the colonel will give another order, something which occurs once every 75 years.

Lieutenant to sergeant: Tomorrow at 2000 hours, the colonel will appear in the theater with Halley's Comet, something which happens every 75 years. If it rains, the colonel will order the comet into the battalion area.

Sergeant to troops: When it rains tomorrow at 2000 hours the phenomenal 75-year-old General Halley, accompanied by the colonel, will drive his comet through the battalion area theater in fatigues.

We have all fallen victim to this. Someone tells us something and we never take the time to find out where the information came from, and how direct the information is. Last year I was riding with a rep and we called on one of the reps new accounts. When we walked in the rep didn’t see the buyer he talked to so he started talking to another guy in the office. This guy started telling us all about how the buyer wasn’t happy and that the product didn’t work, and before we were done talking I think he told me he his tire was flat and the world was also.

The rep and I walked out and he was all worked up because he couldn’t figure out why the buyer was so mad, none of that stuff should have happened. I flew home the next day and it was about a week later that the rep called me and told me what happened. The buyer wasn’t upset at all. He had been talking about our product and then someone must have asked him about another product that he was upset about. The guy in the office missed the switch in topic and was passing on HIS version of what he heard from the buyer.

The story above and the experience I told you about should have a little meaning to you. Don’t listen to hear-say. If someone tells you that this guy said this and that guy said that, always go to the source and confirm the information. There is nothing worse in sales than working under false information. Nobody wins, and usually everyone loses.

If this post has no meaning to you, here is what I want you to do. Next time you are in a group of 4 or more people, play the kids game telephone. You will only need to do it once to become a believer.

BTW, let me tell you what I heard……….

Lorin