Hot Reunion

I recently went to my wife’s family reunion.  I’m sure that like me, most of you really look forward to going to your spouse’s family reunion.  However, this reunion had some very special features that made it more dreadful than normal.  It was in Cordele, Georgia in July. For those of you who aren’t from the South, Cordele is located in South Georgia.  When asked how hot it gets in that part of the country a coach at Valdosta State College told a new football recruit “While you can’t see hell from here, you can feel the flames”.  Cordele is also known for the quantity and size of its gnats in the summer.  While I love this part of the country 9 months of the year, I make it a point to not visit during June, July, or August. 

So why did someone schedule this reunion in July?  Maybe the local relatives just wanted to get back at the lucky relatives who live north of the gnat line.  The reunion was held in a beautiful state park located on Lake Blackshear.  I should have taken my boat, because I’m sure the fishing would have been great.  The actual reunion was held at noon under a large pavilion in the middle of a field.  This was another stroke of genius in planning.  The good news is that no one had a heat stroke, even though the heat index was over 110 degrees Fahrenheit.

The actual meeting was excellent.  Good people, good food, and lots of laughs and reminiscing.  The best part was that they had presentations on the history of the family lines that went back to the 1600’s.  The presentations were very interesting and we all learned a lot.  It was great seeing and learning about all the family, but my favorite event was a side trip to one of the best farmers markets in the country.  It doesn’t take a lot to please me, and I naturally spent way too much money on fresh fruits and vegetables.

So what is the moral of this story?  Many times as sales people we are required to attend sales meetings or sales training that we dread going to.  We dislike the travel, the staying in a hotel, the time lost to selling, and especially the boring slide shows we will be forced to watch.  While we loathe all these things, more times than not a lot of good comes out of these meetings.  It may be that we learn something new about how to sell or maybe we are just reminded of things we already know but have gotten too lazy to do.  We may learn new features of our product or that new products are coming.  We may find out more about the competition.  So don’t dread going to sales meetings.  Embrace the opportunity to learn more about selling.  Use the opportunity to rekindle relationships with people in your company and remember at least these meeting won’t be outside in 100+ degree weather.

Good Selling,