Hobby or Obsession?

[prepress]

Originally Posted by jdandy

prepress.......Many years ago I was in the radio broadcast industry. After years of being on the air I moved into radio advertising sales. One of the broadcast corporations I was employed with was Gaylord, who owned and operated a large number of radio and television stations across the United States. Because they had deep pockets, they could afford to send their sales people through various training programs, and one they sent me through was the Xerox Professional Sales Program. I learned a great deal during this training with respect to communicating ideas, overcoming opposition, and employing open ended question techniques to solve misunderstandings and gain knowledge from a customer, all very useful communication tools for someone in sales.

One aspect of the Xerox program stood out in my mind. If you offer something to someone and they immediately buy it, that is not a sale, simply a transaction to close. A real sale is when there is opposition to closing, and through skillful communication all misunderstandings are addressed and satisfied, and the original answer of "No" was turned into "Yes." That is a sale.

In the case of the audio company president contacting you in response to your email, his suggestion of a new preamp for your system, even though you were not in a buying mood at that moment, was the right thing for him to do. It was the beginning of communicating his desire to continue doing business with you, and an opening of dialog where he hopes to generate interest, demonstrate value, dissolve any misunderstandings, and take advantage of a future sales opportunity that would benefit both of you. You really cannot fault a good businessman for attempting to continue developing a relationship with a previously satisfied customer. He is a successful businessman because he is willing to take risks to promote his company's growth. When you look at his behavior in this light, it is easy to understand he meant no harm by wanting to provide you with another high quality component for your sound system. He is simply letting you know he is willing to help you achieve your goals when you are ready, and he doesn't want you to forget that.

And ultimately, that's how I took it. Because the e-mail was so short, it came across as very blunt and the defenses/alarms went off at first hit. And I wasn't really offended, just annoyed. I am more than willing to do business with the store again when desire and finances agree. Plus, they ARE a Billy Bags dealer, after all .

Addendum: Despite my "complaint," the point I was making is that I was influenced by the e-mail rather too easily, and thus perhaps vulnerable to this being an obsession rather than a hobby.

[US Blues]

"It's an obsession, but it's pleasin'..."

- The Grateful Dead "Lazy Lightning."

Nuff said.

[prepress]

I thought about this more, and I would now say interest, which is less than hobby, with occasional fits of preoccupation ("obsession" if you insist, though it's a stronger word in my view). The preoccupation comes when things aren't resolved quickly, as was my search for a TV and more recently, amps.