Pieces of Gold
Don’t you just love computers. I wanted to start today’s blog with a quotation about the written word – I’ll tell you why in a minute. But just at the moment I’m astonished at the power of Google.
When I started on newspapers at the age of 20, if you couldn’t think of a quotation, you would shout out to the newsroom in general: “Anyone know a good quotation about the written word?”
(Except, of course, as a new cub reporter it would be years before you dared to do that).
Then, in the late 80’s along came computers and you could send a message to everyone on the editorial staff from the Editor on down. Suggestions would come from people you’d never heard of. But you were still limited to the people in the office.
Now I ask Google and instantly it comes back with a lovely Japanese proverb: “One written word is worth a thousand pieces of gold”.
The written word I’m talking about is the one on the Business Development Plan. I had written down that yesterday I was going to hand out 50 piggy cards and there I was at 4.00 p.m. on an errand to buy fruit juice, already late, freezing cold and I had given out about just five. Everything else had been done: Add two prospects to list, make three telephone calls from list, do two Martini presentations…
It was just the piggies that were left and the thought crossed my mind that the piggies could wait.
However, the Business Development Plan is a written document and in the space for the number of piggy cards I would distributre, I had written 50 – which meant that if I did decide to leave them until tomorrow (and then give out 100) I would have to face the personal ignominy of writing “0″ in the space where it says “achieved”.
So this had nothing to do with willpower. This was fear that made me that made me hold out a card to the woman walking down the pavement towards me. And suddenly it was very important that she take it.
So I suppose you could say that without thinking, I stepped up my game. There was a time when I would have said: “Have one of these.”
Then I found it was better to say: “Have you had one of these?”
But now, suddenly, I found myself saying: “Have you had a pink pig?”
The effect was electric: “Oo, I don’t think so. Thank you!”
In the next 15 minutes I gave out the remaining 45. Not a single person refused one and almost everyone said “Thank you”.
I’m going to say that every time from now on.
And I’m going to make sure that everything I plan to do is written down. After all why are we in this business if not for “pieces of gold”.