“Life Is A Stage” – The Mindset of The Successful Self Employed
Posted on | September 8, 2009 | 8 Comments
This is a statement I have made many times over the years.
For an easy example we look back to our days in the restaurant business…..
We used this “Life Is A Stage” term as a teaching tool for the wait staff. Before every dinner we would have a meeting with the staff to go over the nights plan.
That was the time every staff member knew the importance of being able to “turn off” their outside personal lives and become (for lack of a better, simpler term) a different person, when the lights go down.
I write importance because they understood what an actor had to do to perform on stage or in front of a camera. They played a part; they had to be someone else to be in the movie……so it was the same for us.
We know everybody has personal problems; we also know those who brought it to work made less and or generally were unhappy. This made the company less also.
The servers who got it……made money……not just average tips but very good tips.
They turned into salespersons and SOLD MORE at every table with the simple mindset they were going to up-sell everything.
Sure, they could just take an order and make an average tip but with the right frame of mind they could make good money.
Example: a man and a woman obviously on a date are sat in your station……there dressed nice so you figure he will be happy to get help impressing his date….so much in fact he’ll pay more for your suggestions.
He doesn’t want to be embarrassed and or look cheap so when you ask if they would like a drink…….and she responds I’ll have a Cosmo you say great choice, no need to up-sell that yet…… however……..when he says “I’ll have a scotch and soda” you respond with……. will that be Dewar’s or Pinch?
Both obviously better than the “house” liquor so he’ll have to respond with one or the other to not look cheap……… and there you have it……….another 2 to 3 bucks for that one drink……..if he orders another then again……2 to 3 bucks up……
Move onto the $30.00 steak vs. the chicken…….
See the power of this.
Now if you were just Johnny server and stood there and took orders all night you would have missed out on all that extra cash that you added to the bottom line of each tables check…….nice!
This applies to every business across all areas.
OK now I’m not saying your personality sucks or your personality isn’t right or you have to become someone you’re not. This is not it.
Simply taking out some of the baggage we carry around for a few hours is what we’re talking about. Besides, it’s good for you……… and you’re most likely only on stage for a few hours a day so make it fun.
So as a self employed person how does this affect you?
The exact same as any employee except the fact that you’re now most likely the employee, boss and sales person all rolled into one. You must learn this.
And if you have employees then it’s more important to set the example. If you are a shithead then your employees will reflect that.
If you can turn it on when the curtain goes up your employees can also sense that too.
Good Luck Out There, We All Need It.
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8 Responses to ““Life Is A Stage” – The Mindset of The Successful Self Employed”
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September 8th, 2009 @ 6:28 pm
Great Blog post. I am going to bookmark and read more often. I love the Blog template ? if you need any assistance customizing it let me know!
September 8th, 2009 @ 11:37 pm
Thanks so much Susan for the compliment! I’m glad you’re going to bookmark. O and yes I will contact you through email about the customization.
Once again Thanks,
Lucas
September 9th, 2009 @ 3:44 pm
Had this forwarded from a friend at pro.blogger and right, that is a great way to put it mate. I can see how that little amount could add up over time….I’m going to use it in my small beach business.
October 27th, 2009 @ 7:10 pm
Great Post; I’ll pass it on to my crew as I can see this working in my business. Mind-set, yea it’s important and you broke it down to easy. Thanks
November 2nd, 2009 @ 11:57 am
I was forwarded this article and was wondering if we can we print this out and use it at our next meeting with our employees?
It hits home for us.
Thanks
Jon
November 3rd, 2009 @ 9:21 am
Hey Jon thanks a lot for reading the article and yes I would be pleased if you did print it out to show your employees.
December 2nd, 2009 @ 11:02 pm
Thank you,
very interesting article
January 20th, 2010 @ 6:30 am
thank you, very interesting idea