Running a business is...well, serious business. But, everyone needs to take a break now and then to "smell the roses" and kick back a bit.
In this section, we'll be presenting some glimpses into business that are on the light side. Enjoy! 
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BUSINESS - The Lighter Side
COMMUNICATING - It's More Than Just Words!
I grew up in a small prairie town in Manitoba where English was the language spoken every day. There was some "low German" spoken by the Mennonite folks in the area, and we did have some French classes in school, but by the time most of us headed off to the big city at the age of 18, we could really only communicate in English.
My first job was in a paint store in the north end of Winnipeg, which boasted many different enthnic neighborhoods. It was a company branch of the Sherwin-Williams Company and over time, I was expected to learn about everything from house paints to corrosion-resistant bridge coatings to product finishes, which covered everything from furniture to farm machinery. The store was a "wholesale-retail" outlet, which meant that it served retail and commercial customers such as painting contractors, manufacturing plants, institutions such as hospitals and railroad maintenance yards, and many more. The scope of products and customers was staggering, especially to a small-town country boy like me!
The manager of the store could communicate with customers in seven languages, while I was limited to English with a few words of low German and French. As the new trainee, my job was to sell paint to retail customers, and that's when my "education" took on a whole new direction.
We had many retail customers who were first-generation Ukrainian and Poles who spoke with little or no English. In addition to learning all about the various paints, I had to figure out what a customer meant when he/she would ask, "Sonny-boy! You got-it glass paint?" (Translation: "Young man, do you have gloss (shiny) paint?")
This would lead to a whole series of questions and answers, such as "Is this for exterior or interior use?" and so on. Sometimes the reply to my questions would be something like "What you are talking?" or "Why you are talk like dat?" which meant the customer didn't understand the question. OK, back to square one.
It was an experience just trying to figure out the basic customer needs, and the process normally involved a lot of pointing, gestures, and other substitutes for plain old words. These days, I often think that those "conversations" would have made some pretty entertaining clips on YouTube!
After a year or so, I could speak enough key words and phrases in many different languages to actually take care of the customers. I picked up lots of conversational terms too, such as how to say "Merry Christmas" in Ukrainian! (That one came in handy the first time I met my new girlfriend's Ukrainian grandmother one late December day.)
As challenging as this "trial by languages" was, it was likely the most important part of all the education, training, and experience I gained in future years. I learned that the most important thing in business is figuring out what your customer needs, and then supplying it while retaining a reasonable profit for the business. I learned how to focus on these important things without getting sidetracked or distracted by minor issues such as unusual pronounciations, accents, or choices of words.
Above all, I learned that people are people no matter what language they're speaking. Sharing a few laughs with the customers - either because I couldn't come up with the "right words" or because they couldn't - was a great way to learn how to really communicate with everyone, and that experience served me quite well in future years.
Thank goodness "political correctness" hadn't been invented yet, or we (me and the customers) wouldn't have had nearly as much fun!
Submitted by: Lloyd McTaggart
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Do You Have A Story?If you have a "light" story to share, we would love to hear it! It could be about some funny experience you've had in the past, or just about anything that is light and business-related. Dealing with people all day long usually surfaces some "interesting" experiences! All we ask is that it is in good taste, suitable for mixed company (i.e. a story you could tell your grandmother!), and be business-related. Of course, the Chamber reserves the right to make the decision to publish it or not, but don't worry - we'll be reasonable! Why not share your story with your fellow members? We'll be waiting to hear from you!
Click Here to email us your story.
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