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WITandWISDOM(tm) - May 4, 2000
~~~~~~~ THOUGHTS: Fear less, hope more; eat less, chew more; whine less, breathe more; talk less, say more; love more, and all good things will be yours. - Swedish Proverb Source: The Motivation Mailer, motivational_mailer-subscribe@topica.com via http://www.witandwisdom.org ~~~~~~~ SPECIAL THOUGHTS: Everything I learned about selling I learned in one afternoon from my father, Walt, at his furniture store in New Era, Michigan. I was 12 years old. I was sweeping the floor when an elderly woman entered the store. I asked Dad if I could wait on her. "Sure," he replied. "May I help you?" "Yes, young man, I bought a sofa from your store and the leg fell off. I want to know when you're going to fix it." "When did you purchase it, ma'am?" "About 10 years ago." I told my father that she thought we were going to fix her old sofa for free. He said to tell her we'd be there that afternoon. After screwing on the new leg, we left, and on the ride back Pop asked, "What's bothering you son?" "You know that I want to go to college. If we drive around fixing old sofas for free, we'll go broke." "You had to learn how to do that repair job anyway. Besides, you missed the most important part. You didn't notice the store tag when we flipped the couch over. She bought it from Sears." "You mean we did that job for nothing and she's not even our customer?" Dad looked me in the eye and said, "She is now." Two days later she returned to our store and bought several thousand dollars worth of new furniture from me. When we delivered it, she put a gallon jar filled with change, singles, fives, tens, twenties, fifties and hundreds on the kitchen table. "Take what you need," she said and left the room. I've been selling for 30 years since that day. I have had the highest closing average in every organization I have represented because I treat customers with respect. By Michael T. Burcon Source: A Cup of Chicken Soup for the Soul, Copyright (c) 1996 by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen & Barry Spilchuk, www.soupserver.com/ via http://www.witandwisdom.org ~~~~~~~ THIS & THAT: WACKY TELEVISION PRESENTS ... WHO WANTS TO BE A ZILLIONAIRE? With the spectacular success of ABC's new prime time game show, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, the other networks are quickly following suit, launching their unique version of the program. But each network has its own type of prize to fit its audience. CNBC, for instance, who knows many of their viewers are already millionaires, has upped the ante with Who Wants To Be A Zillionaire? WB: Who Wants To Party With A Millionaire? CNN: Who Wants To Be Ted Turner? PBS: Who Wants To Donate Like A Millionaire? Lifetime Network: Who Wants To Adopt A Millionaire? ESPN: Who Wants A Five Year NBA Contract? Food Channel: Who Wants To Eat Like A Millionaire? FOX: Who Wants To Meet An Alien? SciFi Channel: Who Wants To Be An Alien? History Channel: Who Wants To Watch Scratchy Black & White Videos of Old Millionaires? E! Channel: Who Wants To Be In A Scandal With A Millionaire? Home Shopping Network: Who Wants To Buy This Broach Once Owned By A Millionaire? From Just For Laughs, Inc. Copyright (c)1999 All rights reserved. www.wackytimes.com/Aissue11/issue11vol1.html Source: Keith's Mostly Clean Humor, McHawList-subscribe@onelist.com via http://www.witandwisdom.org ~~~~~~~ KEEP SMILING: A southern minister was completing a temperance sermon. With great expression he said, "If I had all the beer in the world, I'd take it and pour it into the river." With even greater emphasis he said, "And if I had all the wine in the world, I'd take it and pour it into the river." And then finally, he said, "And if I had all the whiskey in the world, I'd take it and pour it into the river." Sermon complete, he then sat down. The song leader stood very cautiously and announced with a smile, "For our closing song, let us sing Hymn #365: 'Shall We Gather at the River'." Submitted by: Elaine Matthews ~~~~~~~ TRIVIA: CLOTHING John Travolta's "Saturday night fever" white suit auctioned off for $145,500. Judy Garland's red slippers for $165,000. Charlie Chaplin's hat & cane for $211,500. Elvis Presley's jacket for $59,700. John Lennon's glasses for $25,875. Robert E. Lee wore size 4 ½ shoe. When Einstein was inducted as an American, he attended the ceremony without socks. Source: Today's Useless Facts, Useless_Facts-subscribe@listbot.com via http://www.witandwisdom.org |