I have been blessed so far in life to have a long list of interesting experiences.
This lesson is rooted in sales actually.
When I was a younger man and at the young age 18 one of my jobs was working at a new car dealership as a salesman.
Day One: I was plopped in a fancy office with my name written on a piece of paper with a sharpy marker with a proper nameplate on order along with my business cards for the said dealership. My only task for the next week was to learn all about all the makes, models, and features of all the various Chrysler, Plymouth, and Dodge vehicles.
A guy rolls up in a somewhat late model dodge diesel truck, all muddy, holes in his pants and shirt, truck caked in mud. No salesperson wanted to even talk to the guy. Being young and partially naive to the whole car sales process. I decide to go help the man and his wife he brought with him. He was interested in buying another truck and possibly trading in what he had.
I was honest with the guy from the start hey this is my first day I will be more than happy to show him anything he wanted to see.
So he starts off with one of the smallest demonstration trucks he starts asking all kinds of technical questions at once Gear ratio, transmission speeds, blah blah blah. I then told him and nervously, “I have no idea. I will find out all about this truck for you, it may take a little longer with me than someone else.” So I go inside and pull all the information on this truck and the options it had and didn’t.
We then went and looked at every truck on the lot and went on at least a dozen test drives. All meanwhile the customer is asking me questions I don’t know the answer too. My response was more often than not: “I don’t know, I can look into it for you.” He was testing me, not just my patience but to see if I would lie. He had it narrowed down to the cheapest truck on the lot and the most expensive and he wants to compare specs. So we did together. The guy then says okay how much for both.
DO WHAT? Both trucks. So we run some numbers, my sales manager is telling me it is a waste of time to go back and just sell him either or. I asked him to humor me and run both numbers for the customer. So he does.
I come back with a grand total for both trucks. The guy looks at it and says: “Okay be back in an hour or so” He leaves without saying anything else. The manager said, “See a waste of your time son.”
The guy comes back right before closing with a cashiers check… for both trucks. He said to me kid you will go far, never be the Yes man and make up a bunch of bullshit to get the sale. He then said, he actually knew all the specs of both trucks he was wanting to buy before he ever asked a single question. That he appreciated my answer of “I don’t know, let me look into it for you, or we could find out together.”
I was probably the only salesman they ever had that sold not 1 but 2 vehicles to the same person on their first day at work.
I learned a lot that day. I also learned it is okay to say “ I don’t know, let me look into that for you”
Sometimes being a professional is admitting you don’t know the answer. You do not have to have all of the answers right away to be an expert. An expert will research the question and offer an educated answer. Even if they have to educate themselves.
Be honest, never over promise, and never makeup something to make yourself look better than your actual limitations. If you under-deliver it will haunt you in ways you will never know.
What does this have to do with Djing? Everything. Djing isn’t about faking it until you make it. Be honest and it will earn you more credibility with your client.