Silver Back Muzik

It seems that whenever I go to Starbucks there is at least one individual there who is a traveling salesperson who has stopped in to use their laptop and the Wi-Fi, get a cup of coffee, meet someone for a sales call, or regroup between sales appointments. This makes sense, it's a great place to stop real quick, get some caffeine in your system, and then go back on the road. It's a good place to kill time, catch up on e-mails, and perhaps make last-minute adjustments. Okay so let's talk about some of the challenges with doing this on the road.

You see, ever since they made that rule that you can't use your cell phone while you are driving, more and more salespeople are pulling into parking lots to make their sales appointment calls, or they are popping into Starbucks. There's only one problem with making calls from Starbucks whether you are inside the lobby, or outside on the patio. If you are inside, you have to deal with the music in the background, and the occasional chatter or noise.

The other day, I started my motorcycle alongside the patio while someone was making a sales call, I felt bad, and I waited for a few moments, but the individual never acknowledged me. I therefore eventually started up the motorcycle giving it a little bit of gas, and I'm sure I disrupted his phone call, and made him look stupid with whoever he was talking to, and he gave me a dirty look. However, had he been paying attention to what was going on around him, he would have realized that I was going to start the motorcycle, got up and walked around the corner for a moment.

People beep their horns in parking lots, and there is a lot of noise, and you never know what someone is going to say next to you while you are on the phone. There may be a somewhat less than politically correct song on the radio at Starbucks, you never know what the lyrics are going to be, but the other person, on the other line is listening, and they will judge you, the salesperson, based on what is playing on the radio. If you explain to them that you are at Starbucks, they might be okay with that in some cases, but it might not be considered professional in your industry.

In any case, phone sales on the go are a tricky thing, and you should understand what you are getting into if you choose to answer the phone, or make a phone call while you are at a busy retail establishment. Indeed I hope you will please consider all this and think on it.