As he makes his way across the crowded restaurant, I raise my arm to signal Doug that I'm already seated. The servers had just dropped off chips and salsa, and I was busy checking email on my phone while he was running late. It certainly isn't a big deal as this lunch isn't business, just friends getting together midweek.
Doug shakes his head as he slides into the booth, "sorry I'm late," he says. "No problem, I didn't know if you wanted anything to drink, so I just had them bring water," I mention as he takes a chip and scoops up some salsa. "Rough day?" I ask. "You have no idea," he said before pulling out the menu to preview the selection.
I had recently moved back to my hometown of Cedar City, Utah (1993) to open an office for a midwestern-based company. The company had been attempting to expand west; however, it kept running into resistance in the western states beyond the Mississippi. Arizona, Nevada, Idaho, and California had a few offices, but attrition had kept the numbers stagnant for several years. In addition, the company didn't approve of individuals returning to their hometowns, as data showed a less-than-desirable success rate. I was fortunate that the company had decided months earlier to cancel this restrictive policy to attract more people allowing me to move my young family home.
During the company interview, I received two pieces of good advice. First, "don't slip into the past." In other words, the city and old friends had moved on without me, don't try to wedge back into relationships that may or may not be welcome. "Make new friends, just like you had moved to a new city because, after 15 years, I guarantee it is new," was my mentor's advice. Doug was part of the new friends' gambit.
Doug's wife Carol managed the doctor's office where our children seemed to spend a great deal of time. Our small family quickly learned that with six in the household, the first one sick gets quarantined pretty fast; if not, then the bug just gets passed around in a circle, and by the time the last person gets sick, another bug takes its place, and the process starts all over again.
I had seen Doug at the doctor's office and recognized him as the branch manager for the bank next door. So we had a chance to visit while I dropped off deposits, and these regularly scheduled lunch get-togethers resulted.
The second piece of advice was, "family and friends won't recognize that you've grown into a mature adult, so prospect outside your normal groups of friends." My mentor couldn't have been more correct. On my very first call, I decided to call an old family friend. "Hi, Mr. Smith. Steven with XYZ company. Do you remember me?" a long pause before. "Yeah, yeah, I remember you. You broke my window!" I quickly understood the company's reluctance to send people home.
With our lunches ordered, we munched on chips, and I looked at Dough expectantly. "I did the worst thing today." He said. "It couldn't be that bad," I responded. "It had been a bad morning, and I was supposed to conduct an interview with a new teller for the bank," he said. The teller's position is typically an entry-level job, so most of the people we interview are either in high school or Freshmen in college. In other words, it is generally their first job outside of fast food. "The interview was going fine, up until I asked her why she wanted to work as a teller." She smiled and said, "I just love working with the public." Doug looked at me, and I could see the horror in his eyes as he said, "Steve, I swear the words came out before I even knew what I had said." "What words?" "I looked her straight in the eyes and said, 'it's obvious then that you've never worked with the public.'" Doug said. I laughed loudly, and perhaps a few chip crumbs flew from my mouth. He said he had felt so bad he hired her on the spot, and I laughed some more.
"Dealing with customers is tough." Jeffrey Fox outlines in his book, "How to Become CEO: The Rules for Rising to the Top of Any Organization." "Customers reject sellers, they negotiate, they make harsh demands, they expect their needs to be filled, and they can be fickle." [1] Yep, that pretty much sums up, working with the public.
Written November 7, 2022
References:
[1] Fox, Jeffrey J. *How to Become Ceo: The Rules for Rising to the Top of Any Organization*. Hyperion, 1998. p.9.