Conversation.
The sea change that has taken place over the last 50 years in the way we do business, for those of us who have been around that long, has been both broad and deep. Even as I type this into the note pad on my iPad my start time has been duly noted next to the date! Time is money.
Human interaction, has always been and still is a fundamental element in business. This too has adapted to the changes - call centers, tele-marketing, voice mail, e-mail, you name it, all play into the contemporary model of computer driven economies, and how we run our lives and business.
What I think that may have slipped a little, and hopefully not lost in this human interaction shift, has been the way we relate to each other. Our colleagues, clients, suppliers and anyone we connect with in the daily transactional events in our lives.
Perhaps in the corporate space a language develops that stays tight within the boundaries of the business model. A kind of corporate idiom. If so it undoubtedly works, and when it reaches the client on the street hopefully it has been sufficiently morphed to successfully translate into sales.
I wonder?
I happen to be acquainted with a gentleman who, until recently, ran a small business for 30 years, and who was part of the same business since childhood. It was a family affair reaching back into the mid 1800's, a main street enterprise, which in it's latter manifestation was called The Trott Furniture Company, Collingwood, Ontario. Jim Trott was the personification of the business owner who did everything. He tells me he wore five hats - accounts, advertising, human resources, sales and store manager.
Under every hat Jim was face to face with people. The banker, his employees, his customers and his suppliers. Jim was good in the human relationship department. He had to be, never more so than with a customer, and let us be sure about this, without a customer there is no business. Jim captained a good ship.
The opening words of common courtesy are "Good Day, how are you?"
After that we can have a conversation. Every transaction needs a decent conversation. Let's not lose the skill. The person face to face with us brings a lot of personal and private realities to the moment, as certainly we do; unrevealed evidence of our humanity. Conducting a conversation with a reverence and respect for that common reality can make for a decent exchange.
I think that is Jim Trott's way, that is what he still does. You will find him at the Collingwood Museum every thursday  morning where he volunteers his time to meet and show people around and share his knowledge and wisdom . If you are in the neighbourhood go say "Good Morning!" to Jim.
JFC Aug 2010
To comment click Here.
|