"The Hitchhiker... and The Guy at the Bank"
By Gary Christensen

This article is about two people that I've recently had contact with, and the two lessons that I learned as a result of those meetings.

The Hitchhiker was standing at the side of a road, which led onto a major freeway system. He had positioned himself quite well. You could see him as you approached and there was room for you to stop your car, if you choose to pick him up. It was day time and there were no other hitchhikers, or any one else around. I don't know if YOU stop to pick up any hitchhikers, but, if they look o.k. to me, if there is room to pull over and stop and if I just "feel right" about it, and if I have sufficient time, I will consider picking someone up.

It's not a good idea to pick up a member of the opposite sex. It's not good to pick up someone after dark. It's always a tricky situation and I'm not in full support of the idea, under any and every circumstances, but, I'll tell you what I do and how I decide whether to pick up someone or not.

I look at their eyes. I can get a feel for or about someone if I can see their eyes. This guy had a hat on his head and it looked pulled down, covering half of his face, and I couldn't see his eyes. (One strike against him.) I also believe I can tell a lot about someone by looking at their face. Besides his hat covering half his face, his full beard covered the other half. I assume he had a face, but, I couldn't see it. (Strike two.) I also look at how he's dressed and his overall appearance. This guy looked very untidy, with shabby-looking clothes. Maybe he was a hobo, I just don't know. (strike three.) I didn't stop to pick him up.

A Hitchhiker is a Salesman. He's selling himself. He's attempting to "make a sale." He's tring to convince motorists, or at least one motorist, to stop and pick him up. His product is himself. You either buy him, (pick him up) or you don't! He didn't sell me. He didn't convince me to stop and pick him up. He lost the sale with me, because of the hat, the beard and the shabby attire. Yes, I made a judgement call. Maybe I should have taken a chance, but, maybe I also would have regretted it. Maybe he was a good guy and I missed out on a great, new contact. But, maybe I am better off. Anyway, he taught me about presenting myself to others. I saw in him the need to smile more, and to let others see my eyes. I realized again the need to dress better when I meet others, because a lot of people may judge me by what they see, or by what they don't see.

The Guy at the Bank was someone I had never met before. I had a problem with my checking account and I was told to see him. He saw me approaching, but, he didn't stand up or smile. He didn't introduce himself nor extend his hand for a handshake,.. none of the things I have come to expect from people in general. I sat down and explained that my account was overdrawn, but, that I'd get my check the following week, and asked if he could give me a few more days. I promised to be in the following Friday to make a deposit and bring my account current. He looked up my account and typed in some words into his computer and said he would keep it open one more week.

Just a day before I got my check, I heard about this new bank that just opened, down the street from our house. It was closer and it was managed by a friend of the family. My folks have known him for years. They promised NO check charges at all and a completely free checking account. No check charges, NO charge on traveler checks, NO charge on money orders, and lots more. It was a great deal! I went down to the first guy, at our old bank, and cleared up my overdraft and got a receipt. I asked about any sort of "credit report" that he may have placed, because of this overdraft. I was told "no, since it wasn't overdrawn that long and we didn't have to come looking for you, and since you had come in to clear up the overdraft, we won't report it."

I got my wife and we went down to the new bank. As we were filling out the paperwork, they asked about our other account. (Any bank can run your name on their computer and find out where you have banked and they can see the activity you've had on any other account.)

I assured them all was o.k., that I had just paid off the overdraft.

They decided to call and check with the other bank. (You can see it coming, can't you?) The Guy at the first Bank told them our account had been overdrawn, that he had to close our account & that he had reported us to the local credit agency as a bad debt. it will be on our record for 10 years.

The Guy at our old Bank lied to me. Not only was he NOT a good customer service representative, he had lied to me. He closed our account & even though I had asked about any sort of a bad credit report, he had lied to me, again, Well, I learned from that contact, too. You can't believe everything you're told. He did NOT sell me on his Bank. I'll probably continue to tell this story and I'll probably mention names when I tell it. Did he do a good job of selling me, too? Not at all.

If you want to keep customers happy & keep them coming back, you need to smile. Allow people to see your face. Do what you can to please every customer and, if you make promises, be sure to keep your word.

(Above article was written by Gary Christensen, a self-published author of 8 books & over 100 Reports, like this one. Of the 100, 67 Reports are in his "67 Mailorder Trade Secrets" Book, one copy is yours for $18.00! (Or, the full set of 100+ Reports are YOURS for only $28.00). His latest Free Report is "How to use the word FREE in every Ad you Write" Gary will circulate your 2 page Article or News Release to 90 Publishers for just $28.00! Write him at: 2601 N.E. Jack London St., #138, Corvallis, OR 97330, or E-Mail him at: Garch6@aol.com )