JUDGE NOT…LEST YOU SCREW UP!

JUDGE NOT…LEST YOU SCREW UP!

Reprinted from ‘Personal Selling Power’

by Jacques Weisel 

This story is different because it has to do with the bad habit some of us possess apropos JUDGING OTHERS! Since I have been selling product, service and then myself for over 50 years I still had no problem choosing this vignette, in keeping with my personal values. It’s called My Most Memorable Sale!

        In 1959 I purchased a lead from Encyclopaedia Brittanica for the usual $3.00. It requested a free EB booklet describing the New Edition. It had an East Side address yet, when I got to the block she lived on I was appalled at the poverty of the street. I almost turned back because of the ear-piercing notes that pass for music coming from her apartment. Steady ringing of her doorbell failed to produce results.

            Just as I turned to leave the door opened, and an elderly lady answered wearing a shabby housecoat. The room was a slovenly mess, and I gingerly lowered myself onto a shaky folding chair. Miss P.E. (age 68) questioned me about the new Britannica at length.

            Ever since she was a child, she confided to me, her ambition was to own a set of the Encyclopaedia Brirannica, since she had grown up with it. She left the room shortly and came back with a brand new $100 as a deposit. This represented more than 25% of the full amount, and meant a special bonus added to my commission.

            Within sixty days my secretary ushered in a well-coiffed, well-dressed lady whom I failed to recognize at first. It turned out to be my ‘impoverished’ 68 year old lady. She had stopped by to pay the balance of her account ($276) in cash because she had just bought a lifetime contract with a dance studio, and was preparing to leave for Europe with other dance students and the instructor. Cost, $3,000.

            I learned several lessons in non-judging others.

First, never underestimate the power of a person’s motivation when trying to fill their personal needs. Second, never judge anyone’s ability to pay for what they want.

Finally, I received a commission plus 2 bonuses for her quick payment, and Personal Selling Power magazine paid me $50 for submitting this story. Total reward for not judging who was behind that door, $190 in the 1950s, worth $1,520 in 2010. (Source: Consumer Price Index Conversion. I repeat, JUDGE NOT LEST YOU SCREW UP!