Yes, just when you thought it was safe, Friday Thoughts is back…….. the weekly email that was once widely acclaimed as the best way to waste 5 minutes each Friday….
It may have been a while since we last connected and I am looking forward to getting the conversation going again. If you are wondering what the heck is Friday Thoughts you can find out more here. And of course, if you preferred the quiet, you can unsubscribe at the bottom of this email.
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One of my many vices is my 1977 Jeep CJ-5. She is beautiful. We have been together over 10 years now and I enjoy restoring and repairing her – typically after damaging something on an off-road trip…..
Taking her on a quick run to Home Depot is pure joy….. top and doors off, enjoying the wind, bouncing and rattling over every bump …. old Jeeps have never been accused of comfortable….
Now she is quite distinctive and almost every time I am out someone will come up to talk about her…. in just the first sentence of the conversation I can always tell the value of the conversation that will follow. After several years It struck me that these conversations were very similar early conversations with a new client……
“Wow, I love your truck (or Bronco, Samurai ….)”
This shuts down the conversation pretty fast. I have just been insulted – nothing is more insulting than calling a Jeep a truck – or worse yet a Bronco! They have quickly demonstrated they don’t know a damn thing about my Jeep…..
Reminds me of the time I pulled out my Verizon phone in a pitch meeting with AT&T……
“Nice Jeep”
At least they knew it was a Jeep, but this is really generic. I always appreciate this conversation….. and I am flattered that they noticed it…. but it is usually short conversation and I don’t expect much from it.
Sometimes they tell me that they know a lot about Jeeps and go on and on about the RJ their uncle had years ago (there is no RJ Jeep)…… sometimes this becomes downright tedious and I look to politely get out of the conversation as quickly as possible….
“Whoa, that’s a beautiful CJ – what is that a 78 or 79?”
Now this person has my attention. They know the model and zero in on the year. They did not even mention the word “Jeep” …. They did not have to tell me they knew about Jeeps, they demonstrated it in their very first sentence…..
This is always an interesting conversation that turns my 15-minute trip into 30 minutes …. I often hear stories about off-road trips and midnight repairs on the side of the mountain….. and I always learn something…
“Please tell me the T-150 is gone !”
As the tall, lanky man walks up, he admires my treasure and says “please tell me the T150 gone”
This is pretty rare, but it is so exciting when it happens….
Instantly, without proclaiming how much he knows about Jeeps, what Jeep his uncle had or how many he has owned, he has my deep respect and admiration. We have bonded immediately….he has demonstrated in a handful of words that he knows the original T-150 transmissions were geared too high for off-roading - and any advanced CJ would have replaced the transmission – preferably with a T-18. We immediately dive into deep discussions of sway bar disconnects, lockers and gear ratios….. I ask his advice about the steering linkage and fuel injection…..
This can easily turn into a 2-hour discussion…. I have made a friend for life… we make plans to go on a trip together soon….
“That’s cool – what is it ?”
This person knows nothing at all about Jeeps… at first this might seem annoying. ….but they ask lots of basic questions – often detailed questions – what is this thing on the front (winch), what do you use that for? They do not pretend to know something they don’t…. do not use the opportunity to try to impress me about their knowledge. And while it might seem that the ignorance would be frustrating, their genuine interest and curiosity seduces me into sharing as much as they want to hear…..
Over the years I found that when I carefully prepared for a client meeting with my colleagues, we could ask clients very thoughtful or provocative questions that quickly demonstrated insight into their issues. Almost always this started the conversation at a very different level and often went longer than expected. When I focused on our credentials, did not prepare, or worse, tried to fake knowledge that we really did not have, the conversations were always shorter.. and often the last conversation.
So now, when we are on our game, we work hard to get our “T-150” questions ready…… and short of that, make sure we are deeply and genuinely curious about the issues and challenges the client is facing.
Just a few thoughts…. comments are welcomed and encouraged….
Walt
Related Post: Bob and his two simple questions
Perceptive as always. Forget Verizon and AT&T. I tried to buy the Amex CFO a coffee with my Visa card - worse still - we were in the Amex staff restaurant!
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