Love Is Courteous

The Freiberg’s describe the Southwest home office: “It’s difficult to walk through the hall’s of Southwest’s corporate headquarters, without being struck by the courtesy shown by Southwest employees. In many businesses, you’re lucky if you can get people to look at you, let alone say “hi,” when you walk the hallways. At Southwest it’s more like an ongoing cocktail party without the cocktails. People you’ve never met will stop, introduce themselves, offer to help you, ask some get-to-know-you questions and then be on their way. A remarkable courtesy pervades the place.”

Basic courtesy among sales people must have reached an all-time low. But again, this is an opportunity to stand out in a positive way. Like my friend Charlotte, Billy Stegall likes to say, “Since when did rudeness increase your chance of getting a sale?”

Seth Godin, in his book, Small is the New Big tells a story about the old door to door era of selling. He recalls, that the Fuller Brush company was unusual in it’s day in that it always trained it’s salespeople to ring the door bell and then step back from the door two steps when the lady of the house came to the door. This was in an era of selling when many salespeople were literally trained to try and wedge their foot in between the door and door jamb so it couldn’t be closed on them. Fuller Brush always taught courtesy and respect. I still remember these guys coming by our house when I was a kid. They were always respectful and courteous.

I have sometimes been amazed when I go out and ride with sales reps how insensitive they are about someone’s space, especially the space of a woman when she is working in an office alone. I teach my reps in that situation to put something in their hands like a great sample, and then back away a few steps.

There are dozens of ways to be courteous in sales interactions. Please and thank you go a long way. Asking permission goes a long way. Being on time goes a long way. Calling when you’re late goes a long way. Paying attention to parking and directional signs in the customers parking lot goes a long way. Holding a door goes a long way.