Russell Bell. Photo / File
I was always taught by my elders and betters to 'never judge a book by its cover'.
This was a concept that I struggled with because I had a mission while at Whanganui High School to get through my teenage schooling without reading books of the literary persuasion.
After all, and I guess it was the early days of developing my "lean" skills, if you can tell the same story quickly in a comic or video then why burn a whole lot of time reading the original? Non–fiction books were and always have been a defend story.
That approach saw me through high school English, much to the chagrin of my English teachers (one even gave me a "pep" talk before the Bursary English exam; "Russell, I do not believe that you will pass Bursary English") – although I managed to get one of the highest marks in the region.
The study of English at school is all to do with interpretation and the judgments that we make after taking in a story.
Much like judging books by their cover, we have the same mechanism when it comes to people and I want to highlight the power in making these judgments and how they can affect your business. (If you want to follow my Bursary English approach you can stop reading after this statement: "too often we pigeonhole people and make incorrect judgments about how they and their business can help us.").
As a 20-something, I from time to time found myself in the happy position of engaging in retail therapy - most often for electronic goods or products associated with keeping my car on the road.
More often than not I would be ignored by shop assistants who appeared to zero in on other, older customers with what I can only assume was a perception that "the greyer the hair the bigger the sale".
Notwithstanding, my fashion sense in the 1990s (akin to that of Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam) could have had something to do with it – but the shops which paid me the time of day got my business and repeat business from that point on.
I guess the point I am making is that every person who you come into contact with should be treated in the same positive way because you never know how meeting their needs could benefit you and your business going forward.
There are many stories of how long lasting and beneficial relationships are started, many of which might not have occurred had one of the parties made a judgment call based on a preconceived notion or how the other person presented him or herself.
Recently, in New Plymouth, I met someone who owns and runs a high-tech business serving the oil industry – that was not apparent until it came up in conversation. So, the way to ensure that you get it right when it comes to potential business is to treat every encounter equally and avoid making judgments until you have all of the information to hand.
Who knows? Your next encounter may be the start of a beautiful business friendship!
