“The next time you find yourself in an airplane with no wifi, well don’t get upset. Simply look to your neighbor and say, “Hello, stranger.” You might be delighted with what happens next.” – Camille Clemons in today’s Tip 1468
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Transcript
Scott Ingram: You’re listening to the Daily Sales Tips podcast and I’m your host, Scott Ingram. Today’s tip comes from the maybe somewhat road-weary Camille Clemons, and she’s got a story and a tip for us from this last week. Here she is:
Camille Clemons: We are the sum of our life’s experiences. We bring them to the table in every encounter. All with the hope we can leave a situation better than we found it. My days are filled talking to people who do things. Connecting dots like people or products and striving to hone, develop, and test the constellation theory. Things are always moving. That’s undeniable.
If you’ve been following along, I’ve been intentionally working on being where my feet are. This is really hard, but not checking messages during a meeting or multitasking through family dinners can yield huge divide. You will pick up that key piece of information your otherwise disengaged self would’ve missed, or you won’t be called out by your children as being a bad example since they commonly hear you say “No phones at the dinner table.”
Then there are times when your plans are set. Things are moving seamlessly from A to B to C, how on all cylinders, and then you’re halted to a stop. D was delayed, then again delayed, and then gasp, canceled. But wait, you say I have to do E, F, G, H and I before I can call this trip as success. Not so fast.
Recently I was reminded of this ring ring. The universe is calling. After two weeks on the road, dozens of moving parts, stops, variables, things that could go wrong. On the last leg of the trip, the connecting flight to my flight to my final stop was canceled. I could go into the gory details of what happened over the next two hours, but you can use your own travel what was to fill in those blanks.
What happened, however, over the subsequent three hours when I’d given up relinquished all control, said universe, “Okay, give it to me.” When I did all of that, something beautiful happened.
First, I was heard. When I was frustrated and caught up in the white knuckle, do whatever it takes to get where I need to go flurry. I was having trouble communicating what I needed. Once I realized I had no choice and needed to pivot, the words came more easily. I was articulate and the seeming paralysis lifted. Things started moving again.
Second, I was upgraded. This was a really nice Camille. We see you’ve been through a lot. We’ve got you moment. Turns out loyalty does pay off. Thank you, United Airlines.
Third, and this may not sound like a positive to many. Once we were at cruising altitude, the double chime hit. I fired up my laptop and well nothing, no internet. We were informed there would not be wifi for the entire flight. All right. Two choices. One, get angry and spend the entire flight annoyed. Or two, roll with it.
So back to being where my feet are. Turns out when you sit in seat 1A, typically the person in seat 1B is simply someone you’re sharing a row with. I either didn’t pick up on that social norm or the turn of fortune led me to 1A with no wifi for three hours after two incredibly long weeks for a reason.
For the next 200-plus minutes. I got to know 1B, a complete stranger. We covered music, movies, family, hobbies, travel hacks, wine, podcasts, a record club I need to join, work life, and pretty much one of everything. Not one email was responded to, not one. Strangely, that was okay.
When is the last time you spent three hours unplugged? No distractions. In conversation, not because you had to, but because you really were engaged in a friendly exchange.
The takeaway from all of this is simple. Once you find a way to stop white-knuckling your way through life and letting go of what you think needs to happen next, and trust that what you’re doing now and being okay with where your feet are planted, beautiful things can happen.
So the next time you find yourself in an airplane with no wifi, well don’t get upset. Simply look to your neighbor and say, “Hello, stranger.” You might be delighted with what happens next.
Scott Ingram: For links to connect with Camille and to her original interview on the Sales Success Stories podcast, just click over to DailySales.Tips/1468. Once you’ve done that, be sure to come back tomorrow for another great sales tip. Thanks for listening!