Up Your Business is an exclusive GEARS Magazine feature in which I share stories, insights, and reflections about business and life.
In 1969, my mom had the distinction of being one of the first female letter carriers in Beverly Hills. Back then, they were called “Mail Girls” – try getting away with that today. She delivered mail to scores of movie and television stars, many of whom, were entertainment legends – Doris Day, Pat Boone, Jimmie Durante, Gene Kelley, Natalie Shaffer, Jackie Cooper, and George Burns, just to name a few.
One of her favorites was Wayne Rogers, who was best known for his role as “Trapper” John McIntyre on the CBS hit series, M*A*S*H. Rogers was also known around Hollywood as a savvy investor, providing investment advice to many of the Hollywood elites. He later was a regular panelist on the FOX business show, Cashin’ In, and he owned an investment company, Wayne Rogers & Co.
If you’re wondering what this has to do with this column, here you go. In 2004, I was commissioned to help raise an initial round of financing for a New York-based transmission company. Their goal was to take the company public, but first, they needed to raise one million dollars of “seed money” from private investors. We made investment pitches to several investment firms in the New York financial district. Among those firms was Wayne Rogers & Co. Rogers had listened in to a presentation to another group of investors by speakerphone a few days earlier, and he expressed interest in hearing more in a private meeting.
Coincidentally, the night before the private meeting with Rogers, I happen to make a call to my mom, and during the call, I mentioned the next day’s scheduled meeting. She lit up with excitement as she reminisced and expressed her admiration for him. She said he was one of the kindest, most friendly of the celebrities on her mail route. Before we hung up, she said, “Be sure to tell Wayne that I said hello.” Of course, I patronizingly agreed, knowing full well that I had no intention of doing so.
The next day, Rogers arrived late, and all the appropriate parties and I were already seated around the large conference table. He didn’t display the friendliness or kind demeanor that my mom had described. In fact, he was unapologetic for being late and brusquely announced, “All right, I’m a numbers guy. All I care about is the bottom line and how you get there. I don’t want to hear all the ‘fluff and puff’ that I heard on the conference call.” Then he looked straight at me and said, “And you’re the only one in this room with enough gray hair to be credible; so, I only want to hear it from you.”
Well, he didn’t know it, but I was the “fluff and puff” guy he’d heard on the conference call a few days earlier – I was definitely not the numbers guy. I actually, wasn’t that well-versed on the numbers. The thought of “running away” crossed my mind. Not really, but I was a bit panicked. All I could think of was my mom’s request, “Be sure to tell Wayne I said hello.” So, I said, “Mr. Rogers, before I begin, my mom asked me to tell you, hi.” To which, Rogers replied, “Who the hell is your mother?” Now committed, I sheepishly said that she was his mail carrier when he lived in Beverly Hills.
This is what happened next – believe it or not. Rogers exclaimed, “Gloria! Your mother is Gloria? Are you kidding me? She was the best! Tell me the truth, is Gloria really your mom?” When I assured him that she was, he said, “If Gloria’s your mom, we’re done here. We’re in for the investment.”
I think you’ll have to agree that’s a great story, and the fact that it’s a true story makes it even better. But what does it have to do with business? It’s not so much about what it has to do with business as it’s about what it has to do life’s interactions on all levels. It’s that you never know where, when, or how something you say or do today is going to impact the outcome of something totally unrelated down the road – days, months, or years later.
By the way, my mom had been retired for close over 15 years when this story occurred. Imagine how great an impression she must have made on Wayne Rogers for him to so fondly remember her over so many years.
While my mom is the hero in this story, she didn’t do anything heroic. In fact, she probably didn’t do any more for Wayne Rogers than she did for anyone else on her mail route, including non-celebrities. Nor did she do nice things for people because she was trying to get something in return or gain some personal favor. She just enjoyed doing nice things for others, and she did that willingly and regularly in all aspects of her life.
Our church recently concluded a teaching series titled “Ripple.” Just like the message of that series, this article is a challenge for you to make a personal commitment to say or do something nice for someone every day. This has been popularized and is commonly referred to as doing “random acts of kindness.” The kind act needs to be for someone that doesn’t represent any potential form of recompense for you – no motive other than being kind. It could be a good deed, a kind word, or just empathetic listening. Do just one kind act every day for 30 days, and it will become a habit. The point is that you never know where, when, or how that kindness will end up as it ripples out from you like dropping a pebble into a pond, and you have on control over it once it’s done.
My presentation at Powertrain Expo is called Turning Outside Sales Inside Out. If you attend, I promise that you’ll leave with several tradition-breaking, inside out concepts that will transform how you think about Outside Sales and marketing in general. You’ll also discover that Outside Sales is more like dropping a pebble in a pond than it is like selling.
About the Author
Thom Tschetter has served our industry for nearly four decades as a management and sales educator. He owned a chain of award-winning transmission centers in Washington State for over 25 years.
He calls on over 30 years of experience as a speaker, writer, business consultant, and certified arbitrator for topics for this feature column.
Thom is always eager to help you improve your business and your life. You can contact him by phone at (480) 773-3131 or e-mail to coachthom@gmail.com.
