It's always about relationships.
Truly effective sales representatives learn to build relationships and listen to their clients before trying to fill their needs. It's the Michael Scott way. The seemingly inept and often loathsome Dunder Mifflin branch manager knew how to connect with his customers and deliver what they needed most. His phone conversations with clients bordered on brilliance. But most importantly, he believed the art of human connection could overcome the dehumanizing sales tactics of his warehouse competitors.
The Michael Scott way helped his branch survive the great recession, and he remained the company's most successful employee.
His passion for paper was bested only by his passion for his coworkers. Michael Scott's employees became his surrogate family, mostly unwillingly, and a replacement for the one hundred children he hoped to have in his pursuit of retaining lifelong friends. Toby Flendersen even took on the role of the troublesome stepchild. Only in the final episodes of his tenure as office manager did his coworkers realize how lucky they were to have him for a "father." A poignant lesson most of us only truly learn once our fathers leave.
It's about relationships.
The pecan pie party I'm hosting for a few students this Friday at lunch is an example of that.
It all started when I visited a classroom to model a teaching strategy at the beginning of the school year. I mentioned how much I adored pecan pie. I may have mentioned that I might bring pecan pie one day since none of the students had tried it. It wasn't an actual promise, but it might as well have been. Since then a few of the girls have bombarded me with requests for the pie. Come Friday if you drive by Strathmore High School, you may see us on our picnic blanket eating pecan pie together.
Relationships. That's what I'm building with these young ladies. We will sit and eat pie together and engage in small talk.
I'll listen carefully.
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