There he was, sitting on top of my computer monitor, a short little mahogany fat-man about two inches tall with a really smirky grin on his face. What the heck? Where in the hell did that come from? I immediately headed out to the sales floor for a quick “conference" with about two-dozen of my salespeople. "OK, I have to know. What's up with the little Buddha Man sitting on my monitor? I want to know, and I want to know now!"
No response. Everyone looked around at one another, but no one looked up at me. They all tried to avoid any eye contact. I tried to ratchet up the intensity in my voice and asked again. "What's up with the little Buddha Man sitting on my monitor?" More silence. "OK, if I don't get an answer by the end of the day..." I was sure no one would want to deal with me the next morning. Working on my sales floor after I had downed two double-vente mochas with extra espresso shots on the drive in was tough on the strongest of people. The meek would simply melt under the pressure and ooze into dark corners of their cubicles to stay out of sight until the bell rang.
About five minutes before time ran out, one of my salesmen softly knocked on my office door. I looked up from my work and cast a suspicious glare at Santi Suthisak... from Thailand... I'll bet he's Buddhist... and I bet he knows more than anyone else about that little fat-man on my monitor. I decided to throw him off by lowering my voice and softly telling him to "come on in Santi, have a seat, what's on your mind?" I was the spider and he was the fly!
"I put it there." I knew it! "It was a gift of appreciation from me to you for all the sales things you help me with" he said. Since he was still alive and thought maybe he might survive after all, he continued his tale, now smiling like a fat-man at an all-you-can-eat-buffet! " You are my kind of my Sales Buddha. You always share your wisdom and experiences with me." "A Sales Buddha," I blasted, "What in the heck are you talking about?" And as Paul Harvey would say, then came "the rest of the story".
It seems that Santi had limited sales skills and knowledge when he started out with us. It was my practice to employ a sales management style called MBWA, management by walking around. It worked great at keeping the slackers on their toes. For the others, the ones putting in the effort, it afforded me an excellent opportunity to stop and deliver a little "cube coaching" session. Santi took each of these sessions to heart. More than even I would imagine on my "cockiest non-humble I rock on the sales floor" days! It was at that moment that I began to realized what he was really saying. It was pure honest gratitude.
"Wo", I think I said, sounding a little bit too much like "The Fonz" from Happy Days. Me, speechless. My minuscule brain capacity was trying to process this humbling overload of data. Slowly, it all started to make sense, coming into focus like someone twisting my kaleidoscope. It was a compliment. A gift of appreciation and an incredible lesson in humility all in one.
Today as I begin this blog, he still sits on my monitor. Ten years later and he’s still smiling at me like a fat-man at an all-you-can-eat-buffet! Thanks Santi. Wherever you’re at today, that little two-inch mahogany fat man smiles on both of us.
May Buddha bless us all,
Your friend, The Sales Budha
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