We had Lunch in a very busy (Touristy) restaurant here in Nashville this past weekend and had a lot of fun with our server.
We liked her. The first words out of her mouth were:
“Hi! Where ya from?”
We said: “Here – Nashville” but perhaps we should say we are from somewhere else.
Debbie, Jessica, and Allison have the rare talent of hilarious British accents and can carry on quite a British conversation and you’d be convinced of their “Britness.”
The server told us that in a “touristy restaurant” don’t say you’re from England, Canada, or Australia because they’re known for not tipping well and you’ll not get good service (Although the Aussies are beautiful, fit people).
Sounds like a self-fulfilling prophesy to me . . . Judge them by their accent and/or admission that they’re from one of the “non-tipping countries” . . . Then give them poor service . . . and you’re surprised they don’t tip well?
Towards the end of the meal, a young lady was freshly seated at the table next to us, and our server greeted her: “HI’Ya! Where are YOU from?
The reply: “Australia!”
Be careful about these self-fulfilling prophesies as you go about your business.
Who might you be excluding with your judgement?
What opportunities fail to show up as you profile some prospects and thereby under-serve them?
What’s the cost of “Lost Generations” of referrals due to misplaced shunning?
Like the auto salesperson who ignores the dude in the cutoffs and pampers the guy in the 3 piece suit . . . and discovers later that cutoffs dude is a bajillionaire who was irritated by the brush-off and bought 3 cars from the salesman’s competitor.
Don’t let judgement filters interfere with your success.
If the shoe fits . . .
PS – When it comes to my business (Selling houses), I judge not. I learned early in this business that there’s no such thing as a small transaction . . . Many of my Low price first time Home Buyers of 20 years ago have become some of my highest dollar prolific referral sources today.
I’ve NEVER had a “Bad Closing”
🙂