Thought Stoppers

Deep read (3 mins) Quick read (scroll down)

Have you ever been involved in a conversation about a challenge and heard “It is what it is” or “It’s out of our hands”? If you’re like me you’ve probably said them yourself. But there’s a problem: these kinds of phrases are called Thought-Terminated Clichés. When we use one of these statements during a conversation we risk closing off possible opportunities for a solution. And one of the greatest, and perhaps most important properties of teamwork is a team’s ability to brainstorm solutions, which we want to leverage and not hinder.

For example, the next time a customer leaves your store without purchasing a Protection Plan, instead of saying “Oh well, stuff happens” stop, and don’t let the problem go. Call your team together, review what happened in the customer interaction, and say “I know something was missing; I can’t put my finger on it, but I need everyone’s input on what I could’ve done differently.” If someone asks you “What do you think was missing?” (a common reply) be ready to say “I have no idea, I just know if I had said or done something differently they might have said yes… .”

You may get a new approach from your team right away, or you may not. Sometimes you’ll get an answer much later as others have continued to contemplate the problem. Either way, you’ll have changed the attitude in your store from stopping thought to increasing the opportunity for Protection Plan solutions—and Protection Plan successes. The super power of working in retail, in a store, with a team, is your access to the thoughts, imagination, and problem-solving skills of experienced sales professionals. Make sure that what you say leverages the power of your team, rather than blocking it, and you will…Make It Happen!

Quick Read: Thought-Terminating Clichés like “It is what it is” block problem-solving. Your team’s greatest asset is its ability to draw solutions from experienced professionals with a common purpose. Increase your team’s success by making sure conversations among team members avoid these clichés.

More examples? “So it goes.” “What are you going to do?” “Whatever.” “Get over it.” “Now’s not the time.” “You can’t win them all.” “So what.” “It’s all good.” “Let it go.” “Nothing we can do about it.” “That’s the way the cookie crumbles.”?