Saturday, June 23, 2007

6-23-07: The week I'm having...

So it all starts off with my computer getting a virus, and now, I'm unable to update the comic, which I feel horrible about and need to figure out another way to make sure I get this thing updated, because I feel like a jerk not getting the pages up and on at the right time...THIS is the reason we missed the Thursday update, folks, no other reason than my computer is now going through its 8th time of Virus Scan trying to get rid of this shite.

So that was all well and good, and then I decide I'm going to update my cell phone, since I'm at the renewal date and I can get a pretty cool phone, right? Well, I did and this is going dandy, but while this may be going well right now, there's something looming...

My dog jumped our fence yesterday. He does it every so often, and NOW my homeowners association has changed the fencing to include a 6ft fence...so now, I'll probably have to consider a larger fence if the dog keeps doing this. Normally, no big deal, but the next door neighbors have a newborn baby, and apparently, Ardy got a little excited and bouncing around seems to have scratched the baby. The police show up at my house and I tell him that the dog is in his cage where he goes when he's bad. The police tell me to just make sure I keep him chained up outside to prevent him from getting out, or to make sure we keep a better eye on him in the back yard. I'm thinking no big deal (since I hadn't heard about the baby getting hurt). Animal Control shows up shortly thereafter, telling me that the baby had been struck, and had scratches (and has now gone to the doctor to get looked at) due to anything happening to a baby and the possible severity of it. I had no idea that this occurred, and feel horrible. There's no other way to look at it. I thought just with the fact that the police had shown up, that if anything like him getting out again happened, I may have to put a dog down, now its just a situation where we have to think of the livelihood of the neighbors. Ardy is NOT a violent dog. Even when he plays, he's not the type that nips or bites at your hands. He's just an excitable dog...bigger than he thinks he is.

I go to a restaurant called the FOX AND THE HOUND last night because a buddy of mine, Carlos (another Gamestop Manager) is going to be judging a bikini contest and just figures it'd be cool to go. He starts telling me about this hot Asian girl that is in the contest, and he's saying things like, "well, she's got my vote..." to which I begin thinking for some ungodly reason, "Y'know, I bet I know who it is..." Low and behold, its our old bar-buddy, Jackie, sitting there on the stage and waving at me. After the ladies do there struts in the bikinis, and while the judges are tabulating their results, somehow, I get entered into a WING EATING CONTEST... not most in a timeframe, but fastest wing eater of a basket of wings. Guess who won...that's right, the R O B won out...funny how my gluttony seemed to help for once. Jackie ended up winning the bikini contest, but I don't know if her $250 prize is as good as my "Party for 10-20 people for appetizers and pizza" prize that I won, but who knows.

Sometimes during the week, my wife lost an aunt. No, she didn't just disappear, she passed away. Yeah, perfect time to be funny, I know. Anyway, she wasn't as upset by it then, but then a person that was a musician that would come and play at her bar passed away, as well, and the crazy thing about it was that his car keys were still at her bar, since someone had gotten him a cab home. He apparently died from a massive heart attack, and I don't think I ever met the guy, but she's pretty shaken up by it.

Its been one of them weeks. I've started making contingency plans about how to fix my store at work, and all it'll require is a signoff from my boss, Kevin, with whom I expect to have a conversation about what to do on Monday. You know, my biggest rule at work, and the first thing I let every new hire know is simple..."I will not lose my job for you." And the second thing I say is, "I do not expect you to lose your job for me." I respect them enough right after hiring to let them know that I don't WANT them to take a bullet for it, because with my family at home, I don't think I'd be taking one for them.

Our company has a KEY CARD that we give every employee which gives our company stances. The main thing about this that I take from it is this..."NO VICTIMS" You sleep in the bed you make. You don't perform, YOU are responsible...not the customer that says NO, but the employee that doesn't make them want to say YES. I think I finally figured out where your mindset needs to be to be successful in sales...John Michael and Kristian at AT&T would always say, "It doesn't matter if you take those customers, because I'm gonna get mine..." They were simply stating the fact of, "You are the new guy...you want to come in and take everything, but the truth is, I'll still hit my quota, and laugh at you when you don't hit yours." (without ever saying that, because they both helped me understand HOW to get the move on).

I GET MINE. In my second bad week of this month, I still hit my numbers. Anyone who says "I can't." simply isn't trying hard enough. I had three employees bust their butts in numbers this week, and the store is still having a rough week because of the amount of transactions done by a select few. The difference between me and others is that I say, "I'm gonna get mine..." and they say, "Well, why am I not getting any?" I look past the past, and move on. I tell myself that I WILL succeed and therefore put myself in the frame of mind to do so. Those who do not, DON'T. Its that simple. You must think you ARE going to succeed to be successful. You can't think, "Why haven't I" when you simply need to begin thinking, I most definitely WILL.

Those who don't get it, haven't tapped into it. That's why some people who can't move faster than ketchup coming out of a jar can still be better sales people than that person with a quick wit and sharp tongue.

Maybe I'm off here, but all I can ask is...if I am wrong, why am I successful as a salesperson everywhere I've gone? And no, I don't hound customers, I simply make them see the benefit in doing it. Sometimes its because they are loyal to the store. Sometimes its because we are loyal to them for doing it. Sometimes its just something that makes sense. It isn't always the same answer, and sometimes, its multiples of them. No two people are alike, but if you keep thinking, "I don't get why I can't get there..." instead of, "Oh, I'm gonna get there..." you are just missing it, and its passing you by.

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