“He Was Very Professional” ~As A Eulogy?!?

The above quote is my standard response whenever I can tell the customer is irritated that they have to wait to speak to the pharmacist!! Why “break the ice” when you can obliterate it?

My brother and his wife were coming into town for the weekend and although I had to work, I wanted to see them at least for a little while. So, we made arrangements to meet at the local pizza joint after my Saturday shift. As I sat down at their table, my sister-in-law Stefanie said with a big smile, ”I LOVE your Mickey Mouse tie and ALL of the Disney Pins you have on your Wal-Mart lanyard.” I said, “Thanks Stef, I’m very proud of these pins, every one of them was given to me by customers who knew I was a Disney fan.”

My mother who is a baby boomer chimed in with a very serious tone, “Stefanie, he ALWAYS wears a cartoon tie. I worry that it makes him look unprofessional!!”

“Mom” I said, “I know lots and lots of pharmacists and doctors who are VERY PROFESSIONAL! They usually have a customer or two that will only do business with them. I HAVE A LINE FROM HERE TO MY HOUSE!!”.

I had asked my inner genie 20 years prior when I first got out of pharmacy school, ”Do you WANT to be professional?”. The answer I got back was: ”NO!! I want to be APPROACHABLE!!”. I remember how proud I was the day I bought my very first “fish tie”. I was nervous the first time I wore it, but it turns out no one is “afraid” to approach a guy who wears a fish tie. ”Doctor God” however is very off putting!!

My suspicions that customers want to work with somebody that they “can talk to” were confirmed when Michael Jordan and the fabulous Chicago Bulls team of 1991 won the NBA championship. I had grown up in Chicago and loved to watch the Bulls even when Reggie Theus and Artis Gillmore couldn’t accomplish this magical feat.

When it looked like MJ and company just might “pull it off” about 3 weeks before the night John Paxson nailed several 3-pointers to ice the Bull’s championship bid, I had asked my boss (Dan): ”If the Bulls win the championship, could I wear my Bulls sweatshirt to work?” He said, “Sure, I like it when people get fired up behind their team”.

When the day came to wear my favorite red shirt, Dan was bombarded with complaints from 2 of my coworkers who were “very very very professional”. They thought my appearance to be “ridiculous and disgusting”.

I kind of felt bad for them, because after making their opinion well known, they had to stand there all day watching me “high five” fellow Bulls fans, and listen to comments like: ”WASN’T THAT AWESOME?!?” literally throughout my entire shift. Michael Jordan had a HUGE following. Inside I was smiling because with every high five and positive comment, the cement on my “approachability” became even harder. I knew my eulogy would consist of one phrase, a phrase I would be proud to embody:

“He was the kind of guy you could talk to!!”

What have YOU chosen to be the theme of YOUR eulogy? How you will be remembered is determined by how you show up from here on out! Make sure what you want to be remembered for, and how you present yourself, are congruent. I have nothing against “professionals”, I’d just rather do business with people I can talk to. Can I talk to you?

To learn more about how to RELEASE YOUR INNER GENIE please click HERE!

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Bio:
Corey Jahnke is the author of “We Are Not Here On Rehearsal” and the creator of SuccessEqualsValue.com. Corey is a John C. Maxwell certified success coach AND a Bob Burg certified Go-Giver Coach. Corey’s company, Legend Crafters, helps people go from stuck to unstuck, from unstuck to remarkable and from remarkable to legendary. Will YOU become a legend?

Links:
www.coreyjahnke.com
www.SuccessEqualsValue.com
www.facebook.com/cwjahnke