A bank teller tells his story – “A man came into the bank to open an account. I gave him the usual forms to fill out. Some of the questions he answered willingly, but there were others he flatly refused to answer.
Before I began the study of human relations, I would have told this man that if he refused to give the bank this information , we would have to refuse to accept this account. I resolved this morning to use a bit of sense. I resolved not to talk about what the bank wanted but about whathe, the customer wanted. And above all else I was determined to get him saying ‘yes, yes’ from the very start. So I agreed with him. I told him the information he refused to give was not absolutely necessary. “However”, I said, “suppose you have money in this bank at your death. Wouldn’t you like to have the bank transfer it to your next of kin?”
“Yes, of course” he replied. “Don’t you think”, I continued, “that it would be a good idea to give us the name of your next of kin so that , in the event of your death we could carry out your wishes without delay?” Again he said “yes”.
“The young man’s attitude softened & changed when he realised that we weren’t asking for this information for our sake but for his sake. Before leaving the bank, this young man not only gave me complete information about himself but he opened, at my suggestion, a trust account , naming his mother as the beneficiary for this account”.
I found that by getting him to “yes, yes” from the outset , he forgot the issue at stake & was more than happy to do all the things I suggested.”
Jo Brennan has 15 years international experience in Senior management roles in sales, marketing & people management, working in software, hardware, retail & recruitment sectors. Read more...
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Getting people on your side
A bank teller tells his story – “A man came into the bank to open an account. I gave him the usual forms to fill out. Some of the questions he answered willingly, but there were others he flatly refused to answer.
Before I began the study of human relations, I would have told this man that if he refused to give the bank this information , we would have to refuse to accept this account. I resolved this morning to use a bit of sense. I resolved not to talk about what the bank wanted but about whathe, the customer wanted. And above all else I was determined to get him saying ‘yes, yes’ from the very start. So I agreed with him. I told him the information he refused to give was not absolutely necessary. “However”, I said, “suppose you have money in this bank at your death. Wouldn’t you like to have the bank transfer it to your next of kin?”
“Yes, of course” he replied. “Don’t you think”, I continued, “that it would be a good idea to give us the name of your next of kin so that , in the event of your death we could carry out your wishes without delay?” Again he said “yes”.
“The young man’s attitude softened & changed when he realised that we weren’t asking for this information for our sake but for his sake. Before leaving the bank, this young man not only gave me complete information about himself but he opened, at my suggestion, a trust account , naming his mother as the beneficiary for this account”.
I found that by getting him to “yes, yes” from the outset , he forgot the issue at stake & was more than happy to do all the things I suggested.”