THE MISSING “G”

I went to a meeting this morning and a group of new people stood up and introduced themselves, it was an experience, and not a good one.

The first person to stand up was a young man who looked very professional. When he started talking I thought to myself that this guy had it all not only did he look professional but had a great voice, deep rich and it projected like he was a stage actor.

He was about 10 words into his introduction when I heard it for the first time. I couldn’t believe it, I knew I must have been mistaken. Then about 3 words later I heard it again. He said DOIN instead of doing. As he spoke I realized he was leaving the “G” off of every word ending in “ING”. He said he has been DOIN, he was GOIN, he was HAVIN, and the list went on.

The second person stood up and darned if his “G’s” weren’t also missing. As the reps got up I realized that almost every “G” had been left off words ending in ING.

After I left the meeting I went to work in the field with a rep that I have known for a year or two but have never been in the field with him. We had a great conversation while we rode to our first stop. We walked in to meet the customer and in the first sentence the rep spoke the “G” bandit hit again. I heard the rep tell the customer he was GOIN to check out the inventory.

After hearing about 100 more missing “G” words I finally was back in my car drivinG home to write about the missing “G”.

I know that time is important. I have posted several articles about maximizing your time, but I think that the time it takes to add the “G” would be time well spent.

I have a little experiment for you, get a recorder and record yourself saying the following sentence.

“I am going to be doing something that I have been doing for a long time. If you are having a good time reading this you are doing something wrong.”

After you have recorded this sentence record the next sentence right after it.

“I am goin to be doin something that I have been doin for a long time. If you are havin a good time readin this, you are doin something wrong.”

Now that you have recorded both sentences’ play them back one after the other and listen to how they sound. Now I am not a language expert, however, leaving the “G” off words ending in “ING” makes you sound illiterate! That’s right I said it, if you say DOIN you sound STUPID to me, and I will bet you sound just as STUPID to your customers.

As professional sales reps we need to project an image that will have you customer feeling confident in doing business with you. Sounding like you just fell off a turnip truck isn’t going to help you.

We have been told to dress for success. We have been taught to act like a professional. We have been taught to be ethical. Now you have been taught to sound as professional as you look and act.

By the way, I now have a trunk full of “G’s”, I found all the ones that I noticed were missing today.

Lorin