Thomas, further to my rant, I hereby recommend you see Dogville iconmovies.co.uk Speak of the devil. We've just been to see it.
Nicole Kidman was running around flat out working for the village and the transition from happy, voluntary interaction to brute power demands is not far off how the world of business and sales works all too often. In some of the rougher necks of the woods, threats of violence are not far from the surface.
I was once bailed up in a one horse town on Highway 31 south of Ottawa, and the Dogville villagers came into the store, lining up to see the stranger get an earful from the old man and the son. I was against one wall, father and son read the riot act in loud voices, a couple of feet from my face, the villagers lined up for the show, along the window, by the sacks of buckwheat and stuff. It was like a scene out of the wild west. That was way back in 1975 and I'd just innocently arrived on the job having immigrated after a year goofing off around Europe. The essential problem was that they had been mistreated by representatives of the company [Texaco] before my arrival. In the end, they were one of my best customers. My experience ran in reverse to that of the movie.
I've often found that the most belligerent customers can be the best. They are emotionally open and when things are put right, they go emotionally to the other extreme. The hardest are the cold fish types.
You could take your management to see Dogville. Then everyone could think of their relationship with their sales people and customers.
Mqurice
PS, thinking of the off topic nature of my posts, successful companies which I have dealt with are not Dogville types. They are QUALCOMM types. They are Fisher & Paykel types. fisherpaykel.com The antithesis of Dogville. I dare say Gorilla companies manifest such qualities. |
