Your Attitude Can Make Or Break Your Career

Hehe … sometime back, I blogged about the importance of having the right attitude in order to succeed in life.

Recently, I have read a very good book on how to deliver “world-class customer service” and in the book, it mentioned the importance of having the right attitude in order to give really good customer service and to succeed in Sales & Marketing. The title of the book is: “The Nordstrom Way To Customer Service Excellence : A Handbook For Implementing Great Service In Your Organization” by Robert Spector and Patrick McCarthy.

In the 1920s and 1930s, when they began to expand their business, John W. Nordstrom’s three sons — Everett, Elmer, and Lloyd — created a sales-driven entrepreneurial culture by recruiting “fiery producers, tough guys, men who had to work hard to put bread on the table,” Elmer once said. ….”

… Even though Elmer (the last-surviving second generation Nordstrom, who died in 1993 at the age of 89) was describing the Nordstrom philosophy of more than eight decades ago, that philosophy still holds true today. A can-do attitude, a positive personality, and a strong work ethic are still the primary ingredients for success at Nordstrom. Some things will never change.

“The qualities that Nordstrom looks for in its employees couldn’t be more basic. First of all, the company wants its sales-people to be nice.”

“We can hire nice people and teach them to sell,” current chairman Bruce Nordstrom likes to say, “but we can’t hire salespeople and teach them to be nice.”

The Nordstrom corollary to that philosophy is “hire the smile, train the skill.”

Yes, at the end of the day, eventhough you might have the necessary qualification, skill, educational level, or experience, you might still not succeed if you do not have the right attitude.

cheers
hanyi

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