No. 340 - DO YOU HAVE CHANGE FOR A HUNDRED DOLLAR BILL?

No. 340
Jim Davidson...NEWSPAPER COLUMN
DO YOU HAVE CHANGE FOR A HUNDRED DOLLAR BILL?

What do you think would happen in your life if you could eliminate blame, stop complaining and overcame procrastination? Well, this is a loaded question because we all do these things, at least to some degree. More about this a bit later, but first I want to tell you a true story about a young lady by the name of Judy. Judy had been on the job just a few weeks as cashier for a major home improvement company when early one morning a young man came through her check-out line with a few items and plopped down a hundred dollar bill. At this point Judy had a decision to make. She could tell the young man was in a hurry, there were several other customers in line and since she had just opened up, there was only $40 in the cash drawer to start the day.
Judy then asked the question, “Do you have anything smaller?” He said, “No.” The standard procedure would have been to place the large bill in a pneumatic tube and send it to the office for change and wait for its return. This meant that all the other customers would be waiting, too. At this point Judy did not say to herself, “Why is this happening to me?” The total amount of this young man’s purchase came to $2.89 so she calmly reached under the counter, took her purse and deposited $2.89 in the cash drawer, rang up the sale, placed the merchandise in a sack, took the receipt along with the hundred dollar bill and handed it to him and said, “Thanks for shopping with us.”
This young man stood there for almost a minute before he figured out what had happened, but he finally left and that was the end of it, at least that’s what Judy thought. A couple of days later Judy’s manager came by and said, “Judy, did you actually buy a customer’s merchandise the other day?” She thought a moment and then said, “Yes, I guess I did.” The manager said, “Well, he sent you a tip.” Judy was dumbfounded but she finally said, “How much?” The manager said, “$50, but you know you can’t accept tips.” Judy said, “Let’s just put it in the Pizza fund so everyone can share in it.”
End of story? Nope. A few days later this young man brought his father by to meet Judy. His father just happened to be the founder and president of one the largest building contractors in the area and as a company they buy lots and lots of stuff. All kinds of stuff that this major home improvement company sells. The father said, “Judy, because of what you did for my son the other day, we have decided that we are going to buy all of our materials and equipment from your company.”
In summation, there are lots of things that could be said about this true story but it clearly demonstrates the “POWER OF ONE.” What one person with a positive, helpful attitude can do for themselves and for their employer. Needless to say Judy’s stock went up with the company. This true story along with many others can be found in a fantastic little book titled, QBQ! The Question Behind The Question that was written by author, speaker John Miller who lives with his wife and seven children in Denver, Colorado.
The theme of John’s book is Practicing Personal Accountability in Business and in Life. Personally, I think this book is destined to become a classic in the company of others such as Take A Message To Garcia, I Dare You and The Greatest Salesman In the World. This is borne out by the fact that major companies like Wells Fargo, MasterCard, Hallmark, Blockbuster and American Express have purchased large quantities to train their employees. If you would like to have one or more copies e-mail John at www.QBQ.com or call 1-800-774-0737. The price is $16.00 which includes shipping & handling. This book is a winner. (Jim Davidson is a motivational speaker and syndicated columnist. You may contact him at 2 Bentley Drive, Conway, AR 72034.)