Do the filters need cleaning?

I own dozens and dozens of books.  I often read snippets and bits of many books at the same time. A kind of ADHA method of reading…have been doing it for years.  Recently I came across something that gave me an “ah ha moment”…viewing life through our filters.  There may be many filters through which we view life but let’s just chat about three.

1.  Attachments (something we simply cannot live without)
2.  Beliefs (that we’ve been taught and hold to as our truth)
3.  Fears (needs no explanation, right?)

Filters are static in their most extreme, but the world is not static - it’s constantly changing. So if we are venturing through life with immobile plans and the world is moving at warp speed, we’re probably missing the mark.

I instantly thought 'ah-ha' we do the same thing in our hotels (yes both sales and operations).  Maybe we are trying to navigate the waters of today in a boat with the sails and oars are locked up….rusted down…..just old!  Or at the least need oiling.  Let's think about this.

1.  Attachments – hmm maybe an attachment to ‘they way we’ve always done it’.  A set # of calls each month - forget about whether they are good calls or not – just gotta get to the magic and nothing less, no excuses. You know sort of mindless dialing for $$$ we’ve all done it.

What if we put less focus on the number and more on attention to building relationships, better qualifying calls and asking/working referrals.  Could this actually lead to more bookings?  But whoa, wait….we’d have to give up our attachment to the ‘way we’ve always done it’.

2. Beliefs   Our truth as we knew it ‘yesterday’ was the best way to connect with customers is through phone calls.  Maybe in reality the 'new truth' is…they  want to communicate by email or better yet by text.

OK, raise your hands…who is so sick of phone tag that they could just - well you get the point.  We’re all sick of it!  EMAIL ME!  It's not less personal unless you write terrible, inefficient emails (another blog).  Actually it ‘feels’ more efficient and a better use of my time.

 

But wait…stop just a minute….are you asking me to get outside the box…text are you kidding?  My Jitterbug won’t text.

3. Fears?  Sales people  - “fears – heck I have no fears”.  Actually yes you probably do.  Fear of rejection buried in the hesitancy to pick up that phone?  Or by ‘not asking for the business’, if you don’t ask, then they can't say NO.  And you probably won’t get the business either.

Then there are fears that you don't even think of as fears….wow, this is going to take self-examination.  Or better yet, ask with your Director of Sales.  She/he can help you identify your fears be and how best to work through them.

So what if we get out the filters, look them over and dare to dust them off.

Let got of our attachments.

Expand our beliefs.

Face our fears.

Then maybe we can better row that boat in the changing waters of the world.