A few months back I attended a literature festival in Mumbai, where my book Wo/Man, Work IT Out! was launched and showcased to hundreds of reading enthusiasts amongst tens of fellow authors. During the event, I had an interesting encounter with a young girl whose love for reading, impressed me at first. Lesser than I knew she would become the first youngest customer I have ever engaged with. About the age of a second grader, she showed so much ease in greeting me with her excellent communication skills and putting herself out there available to speak with an Adult on a Non-Fiction book. This kept me hooked on our conversation further. She was accompanied by her father, whose attitude was even more impressive as he let her young daughter freely approach and engage in a dialogue with an adult while he was standing right behind her to extend his support, in case she needed one. But hell no! She did not need any, not even for a second!
She and I continued our conversation through various questions I tickled her curiosity with; about her interests, why she chose to visit the literature festival, what aspects she enjoyed about reading and which ones she did not, what she wanted her working parents to do more of or do less of & why, and what her plans were for an upcoming 2024 Father's Day Celebration, etc. Her zeal to increase her vocabulary and master the language she spoke to help her better engage with her surroundings showed so much more about the capability, mindset, and attitude she carried. At that moment, I thought, that when cultivated with the right discretion and appropriate support, children showcase the power of unadulterated high learning capacity. Her awareness of what she needed from her father to do more of i.e. work a little less and spend more time with her playing or learning showed her being fully present & knowledgeable of her surroundings and her needs.
In our conversation, we exchanged such good energy and we both knew we were vibing well to keep each other happy and at ease. After much thought, she decided by herself, to pick one copy of the book for her working father & mother. She left me with a sense of deep joy not because she chose to buy the book but because she left me with a feeling of a good connection with a fellow human being.
After her departure, I thought about what made this encounter the most interesting and memorable one out of all the others that I have had so far (personally, professionally, and during the literature festival). What makes me cherish this experience for times to come? What made it so special?
The difference lay in the novelty she brought to the engagement:
She not being in the age demography of a typical customer I would encounter brought an element of newness and intrigue.
Her innocence in communication brought much-required uniqueness.
Her unadulterated clarity of thought kept us engaged.
Her courage to be authentic without being fearful of the consequences of being herself kept me wanting more of her genuineness.
Her attitude toward learning and her mindset of growth kept both of us anticipating what was coming next.
Bringing her best self forward while speaking of a subject she liked, she contributed to creating value and impact with ease.
I appreciated the child's parent who without unnecessary nudges or interruptions or undue dictation, patiently let the child be and have space to transverse the conversation confidently with an adult. While creating adequate support if she fumbles. Drawing parallels to the corporate work culture & work dynamics within teams; In hindsight,
Isn’t it what we need in modern-day leaders, mid-level managers, team leads, and peer colleagues?Â
Can we strive to keep our childlike (not childish) innocence alive while using our intelligence to keep workplaces more at ease, approachable, and fun?
At the same time can we strive to at least start supporting and nurturing our surroundings just as we do with our deeply bonded relationships?
What within us stops us from being more fuller & our best selves at work?
Something for all of us to ponder over!
As I further thought deeply, I uncovered some of the key sales lessons that resonated with my past corporate sales experience which also pleasantly resurfaced through this encounter:
There is nothing called wasted Time & Effort in the sales cycle. Every interaction is valuable, only if you have a knack for seeing it with an open mind and learning from it. Learning that you can apply not just in your professional advancement but also in your personal growth, to bring self-awareness or expand the understanding regarding how the world around us functions.
Every one of us is selling something daily to ourselves, our colleagues, our family members, our potential customers, an idea, a thought, or something tangible. Convincing others that what we have to offer in serving them will bring value to their life in many ways or forms. In such efforts, Authenticity is hard to miss; every client can't put it in words yet understands deeply when something genuine is available in front of them to consider. Authenticity also brings a uniqueness in every engagement which is endearing and refreshing. Good sales decisions made by clients are not only made through persuasion but with authentic dealings.
Critical sales decisions are based on the foundation of a long-term mindset. In such situations, sales are never rooted in earnings but more in gaining insights into human behavior, actionable choices, objections to win-win decision-making, etc. where the outcome is a mere derivation of focusing on the right inputs to drive more value for the customer compared to the seller's gains. Above all, it's a step forward in building valuable Relationships. In the end, time spent in making genuine relationships always proves to be valuable energy exchanged in the sales journey.
We all may have our individual experiences, specifically in sales but what keeps us going is a sense of learning something new at every encounter we have, a chance to provide value to someone, and a promise of our efforts seeing the light of day through numerous attempts that we do not succeed in sharing valued service that others need in their lives.
Happy selling, authentically!
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About Author:
Tejal Rathod - Tj (she/her)
Peter Drucker Management Excellence Award-Winner by the University of Oxford, UK.
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Images credit wix.com, Rohit Shinde Photography at India Authors Literature Festival 2024.
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