Disney World or Butterflies?
By Bill Sheridan on Jun 10, 2007 in Other Voices
I’m not entirely sure why I remember this true story that I read many years ago in the Reader’s Digest. Maybe because my own dad died when I was seven and I have so few memories of him. Or, perhaps it’s because of the O. Henry surprise ending. Whatever the reason, I’ve never forgotten it.
A father wrote about chatting with his young adult son and inquired, "What’s your favorite memory of something that you and I did when you were growing up?" He expected to hear about the fabulous vacation to Disney World or an excursion to the Grand Canyon. Possibly their first big league baseball game together.
To the dad’s utter surprise, his son replied in a flash, "Oh, that’s easy. The time when I was about ten years old and went with you on a sales call and we stopped to catch butterflies under a bridge."
"Why did you choose that?" he asked. "We had so many wonderful family vacations and other events that cost a ton of money."
The son laughed and answered, "Because when I asked you to stop, I didn’t expect you to do it?"
What does that have to do with you as a small business owner?
Often we think that we have to hit the big home run in our professional and personal lives. The truth of the matter is that it’s often the little things that we do for others and that they do for us that are most meaningful. You can and do make a difference as an entrepreneur.
I recommend that you surprise your customers/prospects once in awhile by doing something just a little extra—something fun and unexpected!
Let it be your version of stopping to catch butterflies.
Written by Bill Sheridan "Sheridan Writes"—see my bio under Guest Authors
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John Cuvelier | Jun 11, 2007 | Reply
Bill;
Thank you for another fine article. How true your words are. I can remember several years ago going for some CEU’s and they had some life agent out of Dubuque and he was giving examples of multi million dollar policies he was selling to his doctor and dentist friends and was just going on and on and I wanted him to just leave and leave. The few dentists and doctors in our small towns wouldn’t take long to see. The point is just as you mentioned and the issue we are having in rural Iowa is we use to work with 400 acre farmers and while they are still out there the big time operators are moving in and the picking is going to be less and less and I love working and being small compared to all the issues that come with being bigger and bigger. Enough said and thank again for your words.
Claire Upham (sister of Bill) | Jun 29, 2007 | Reply
Bill,
Per usual this is an excellent article. Just talked to Ann Marie about their favorite Christmas. It was the year in Perry and we didn’t have time to wrap presents. We started them out with clues in the mail box and they did a “treasure hunt”. Now they do the same with their kids. For our busyness, it became a tradition for them.