"Karen Cortell Reisman brings clarity, humor, and expertise
to her work. I definitely feel she can help all of us become better teachers, facilitators and presenters."

Irwin M. Becker, D.D.S., Chairman, Dept. of Education, The Pankey Institute

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Chapter 8
Exposing Assumptions

Your least favorite word must become “assume”.

The less you assume, the better you’ll communicate. And, the better you communicate, the more you will sell.

You blow it when you assume that she’s pregnant, that he’s too old to buy the Jaguar, that the couple can’t afford the house because of the way they’re dressed, that the overweight child is lazy, that the misspellings mean he’s stupid, or that the male, rather than the female, has the final purchasing power.

Ouch. Just mentioning these few examples may have caused you to cringe because maybe you’ve made one of these mistakes in your professional and/or personal world.

Assumptions can cost you.

A dental assistant once told me that during a new patient consultation she looked at the couple seated at the table and said to the female, “I assume you’re his mother.” After a very awkward silence, the woman replied, “No, he’s my husband.” The dental assistant wanted to evaporate, and she never regained her footing.

This couple went elsewhere for their dental care.

De-program your “myth slate”. Recently a friend and I went car shopping after finishing a four-mile walk on a hot summer day. Sporting our sweaty workout clothes, we were not dressed for success. The sales guy did not assume that our attire equaled our purchasing capability. He treated us graciously and with total respect. My friend bought a Lexus. Congratulations to this Lexus dealership!

It’s easy to make assumptions. When you hear yourself say, “I assume the team sent the email”, or “I assume they Fed-Ex’d the brief”…STOP! Investigate! Assume nothing.

When you hear yourself think, “I assume they can’t afford this” or “I assume she isn’t interested in this service because she hasn’t returned my calls”…STOP! Assume nothing, and keep trying.

I almost lost a significant speaking job due to an innocent assumption. It was high noon at a power lunch with clients planning a seminar that I would be giving around the country. As we brainstormed about the content, I commented to the Senior Vice President of Marketing, “Let’s make sure that whatever we include plays everywhere…even in Peoria.”

The SVP looked me over slowly and calmly before saying, “I’m from Peoria.” I felt like a chewed piece of gum. We were able to joke about it, and I hoped the incident would soon be forgotten, until receiving email #1: “You trashed my home town!”

That was soon followed by email #2: “Since you can’t make it to our next meeting, why don’t we reschedule and meet in (you guessed it)…PEORIA!”

Realizing my predicament, I had already researched current information about Peoria, and responded with pleasure about the possibility of attending Peoria’s annual jazz festival, along with an evening at their dinner theater. The client forgave me, I was able to climb out of this ditch, and we created a successful seminar series.

NEVER make any assumptions about anything.

Dr. Risé Lyman, past president of the American Association of Women Dentists, told me that “The most important lesson I’ve learned during my entire career is to treat every patient as if they were a member of my family.” She recounted the following embarrassing moment.

“One time I made a case presentation to a new patient based upon his terrible dentition and sloppy appearance. I recommended a patch job.” He asked, “What would you do if I was your father?” Haltingly, she backtracked, “I’d do a full mouth reconstruction.”

He chose the latter and Dr. Lyman learned to assume nothing.

Here’s a short list of faulty assumptions guaranteed to make you unsuccessful when you are speaking to sell:

• Clothing dictates spending power.
• Older people buy less.
• Men make most of the major financial decisions.
• The listener really “gets” what you are saying. Are you leaving out critical details? (I asked my husband for a “bench” for mother’s day. He brought in a backless stone slab, when what I had in mind when I made the request was a wooden park bench with arms and a back.)
• Low price is more important that customer service.
• You’re selling your product or service (You are really selling YOU. What distinguishes you from your competitors is YOU—not your product or service).

Assume nothing but the sale, and you will never have to shrink with embarrassment, or worse yet, lose the opportunity to sell yourself, your product, or your service.

How to expose assumptions:

• Remember that “assume” is your least favorite word.
• Treat everyone as if they were a part of your family.
• Avoid jokes, anecdotes, and idioms that negate any group, religion, political party, or location.
• Implement a rescue strategy if you have made faulty assumptions.
• The next time you think or say “I assume”…STOP!

Reconsider. Go for the facts.

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