On December 31, Will You Have Numbers Or A Story?

It’s 8:40 a.m. on Sunday morning November 8 in San Fransisco after successful presentations at the Legacy Top Producer Conference.

I am checked in for a flight from San Francisco to Chicago and then on to Moline, Iowa in advance of speaking at NAIFA Iowa’s Sales Caravan.

I arrived at the check-in counter at the flight gate at about 8:28 a.m. and the agent was walking away from the counter.

As the agent walked away, they said they were just closing the 8:30 a.m. flight to Los Angeles and asked me if I was going to Los Angeles.

I said no and advised the agent that I wanted to change my seat for my 10:00 a.m. Chicago flight.

The agent said they would be right back and went through the flight loading ramp door and closed and locked the door behind them.

At 8:31 a.m. a person came up and asked me if I was going to Los Angeles.

I said no and that the flight had been closed.

The person then started knocking on the loading ramp door and went so far as to pick up the intercom microphone at the side of the door asking if anybody on the Los Angeles flight deck could hear them.

A few minutes later the agent came back.

The person got into the agent’s face and advised the agent that they were on the Los Angeles flight.

The agent said the flight was closed and stepped back behind the counter and went to work finding the person another flight which obviously was the only thing that they could do.

The person then went on to tell the agent a story that included;

That the person was on time for the flight, the airline had closed the flight early, that the airline’s clock must be wrong … going so far as to stepping behind the agent’s counter and comparing the clock on the agent’s computer to the time on their watch.

The person went on to insist that the agent turn the plane around and get them on the flight.

This reminds me of the story about the new sales manager meeting with the sales associates on their first Monday morning meeting together.

The sales manager advised the sales associates that they were required to fill in a report with the following numbers ready for the next Monday sales meeting;

• Telephone calls
• Conversations
• Presentations
• Sales

The following Monday, the sales manager met with the first sales associate and asked them for the report on the numbers for the following;

• Telephone calls
• Conversations
• Presentations
• Sales

The sales associate then went into a long story about the things in the company that were preventing them from reporting on their numbers for the telephone calls, conversations, presentations and sales.

The sales manager interrupted the sales associate’s long story and said; do you see those little boxes to fill in for the numbers for telephone calls, conversations, presentations and sales …

If I wanted a story, I would’ve given you more space.

Half an hour has gone by and the passenger is still telling the agent that they are right and the airline is wrong in respect to the person missing their flight.

I was thinking that if I was the agent I would say to the passenger …

Do you see that little box there that says departure time?

Do you see the little box that says boarding time?