PEOPLE PERSON, PEOPLE PEOPLE, AND THE REST OF US

The self-described people person needs back-up. Call it confirmation.

Who calls themselves a people person? Isn’t that what others are supposed to say? “Stan is such a people person,” carries more weight than Stan saying it about himself.

“Hello, I’m Stan, and I’m a people person?” What old Stan is saying is hold on tight.

Salesmen and women are people people. Given that they make connections with a wide variety of people, they’d better be.

People people enjoy making friends and influencing people. They want what’s best for the people they meet, and they’d all be better if they bought the stuff being offered to them.

A people person who is a top sales pro knows more about buyers remorse than any psychologist. They may not understand the science, but they know how to tap into the mind of the impulse buyer.

“If you like that, you’ll love this. And it’s not much more than the original cost. The budget you mentioned? This is right in line with what you want to spend.”

The right sales pitch will put you in that new car you didn’t know you needed when you wanted to trade in the old rig and a newer used rig.

New washer and dryer? Why not a set that lights up like a disco ball and beeps out show tunes? Get on board with the new laundry technology. New Zealand is becoming a big player in the market with their patented flat center post. Look at a Fisher & Paykel and compare.

Is it party time in the laundry room, or repair and replace time?

People People Stand Together

Remember Stan the people person from the top? Everybody’s new best friend? That’s Stan.

Stan is an emotional guy who shares his emotions with customers. The difference in his emotions is that they are the same emotions as his current customer.

The people who enter his section of reality never hear the door shut behind them. In Stan-World they bond and share. Then they leave with a receipt and a delivery date for a refrigerator when they needed a dishwasher.

Sure, they bought the dishwasher, but don’t new appliances make everything else look old? Take a card for a cabinet maker for a new look kitchen. The other card on the desk is for a company that specializes in using veneer on cabinet doors for a new look.

When the ‘New Look’ bug bites hard, where does it stop? New wardrobe? New car? Lipo-suction? Facelift? Botox? Implants?

When a people person turns into a showman, there’s no limit. That’s when the con-man surfaces.

People Person In Chief

By any definition, a Presidential candidate is a people person. They tell you what kind of person they are, and ask for your vote.

They might say, “I could shoot someone on 5th Ave and not loose a single vote.”

The author of that quote misses that there’s one potential vote he won’t get, the only lying on 5th Ave.

“Grab them by the pussy. They let you do that when you’re a star.”

The author of that quote forgets the #1 Rule of a People Person: Others have feelings.

When young aspiring women see a man commanding their television screen, a man they see as a stepping stone to advance their career, they may need to answer one question: “How bad do I want this part?”

When a man calls out to an audience with, “Vote for me, what have you got to lose?” And they do vote for him, do they lose more than they expected?

When the same man, three and a half years later, tells another audience, “If I lose this election you’ll never see me again,” is that a threat, or a promise?

Today more than ever, this year more than ever, we’ve seen the benefits of clean air. After the forest fires in the west blanketed the region in enough smoke to rank as the worst air in the world, cleaner air is a key to health.

Cleaner water plays the same role.

Clean air and water came into peripheral play when Mr. Trump suggested that laundry bleach and internal light therapy could slow down the corona virus. With a base of voters smoking Camels and drinking Moonshine, as is their legal right, a virus cure promoted by quackery makes sense.

Why not try medicines made for other diseases? What have you got to lose?

What Real People People Do

They start by assessing needs and actions. Specifically, they assess whether their direct action would help or hinder a current need, then they proceed accordingly.

If they see a fire, the guy carrying a gas can isn’t the one to put it out.

If they see pain and suffering, the guy with the thumb screws isn’t the one to call.

If they see sickness and death, the man who shrugs it off isn’t the one to help.

Before deciding who belongs in the White House the next four years, consider what one vote reflects. The old saying about politics making strange bedfellows has never been more apt.

Ladies? Raise your hand for Trump. Now raise your other hand because it will just get in his way. And that’s fine by you. Just make sure you’re got your husband’s approval per Mr. Trump.

Gentlemen? A raised hand for Trump is also a raised hand for renewed racism, ignorance, anti-science, and general bullshittery. And that’s fine by you.

And if Mr. Trump asks about your wife and daughters, answer carefully.