Tacos Rock! & That’s A Dumb Pass!

Howdy! Thanks for stopping in. If you are new here, what took you so long? If you’re back for more – consider this a virtual high-five! Thanks for coming back and please tell everyone you know about the awesomeness!

Now, if you’ll extend me just a moment, I want to express my genuine gratitude for my dad, my Pops, my first coach. You might recall that back in May, I wrote about his persuasive powers with “because I said so.” (If you missed it, I’m going to need to speak to you after class. But here is a link to: “‘Because’ is the secret to compliance.“)

My Pops’ lessons didn’t stop there. This one might be the most valuable lesson he ever taught me, even if he didn’t realize he was teaching me. It’s about listening to people’s message, not necessarily their delivery – the tone, the level of volume, or even the scowl on their face.

What are we really talking about here?

Think about it this way. Let’s say we head over to “Tacos, My Friend” (a real place). We order up the Taco-Twelve-Pack (not real, just dreaming here), and when we see them, we’re disappointed. Too much cilantro, not enough sour cream – our dream is ruined. But instead of focusing on the appearance, we start in on numero uno. By the time we get to numero ocho, we realize these tacos are en fuego y el mejor tacos we have ever had.

Alright, enough of the taco talk—let’s get back to Pops’ lesson and not el noveno taco.

The ability to filter messages from the words served me well at basketball practice. When my coach yelled, “That’s a dumb pass!” I had two options: throw a pity party for myself and wish for some tacos to take my mind off it or focus on his message on how to improve my hoops game.

Sure, if you were at one of my hundreds of basketball practices and heard the same line, “That’s a dumb pass!” from my coach to me once, twice, seven more times, you might think I was missing the message or even slow to learn. But ultimately, I would learn, and my hoops game would improve.

Consistency over perfection, right?

So, a couple of things. If you’ve read this far and you’re not thinking “tacos sound really good right about now” or you are scratching your head, wondering “What does this have to do with marketing?” I have to believe you’re either not a taco person (weird; who doesn’t like tacos?) or incredibly patient. Either way, I appreciate you.

Alright back at it. If we take those life lessons about not judging everything at surface level and not turning setbacks into personal indictments, we can grow when opportunities present themselves.

Case in point: I’ve had a client for nearly two decades; it only feels like three 😊. Do you think we’ve always seen eye to eye? If so, I’ve got some high, dry land in South Florida to sell you.

Setting those disagreements aside, those moments have only fortified our working relationship around trust, respect, and open dialogue.

But why does this client-partner relationship work? Simple. They’re an example of my ideal client. They allow me to think differently, provide candid feedback, offer different approaches, and even disagree. This collaborative approach works because we both have one goal: THEIR SUCCESS.

You see, when your goals align with your customers or clients, you don’t have to agree on every detail. In fact, it is the difference in perspectives that leads to a wider field of view. It’s not a bug, it’s a feature.

Let’s be honest, not everyone is your client or mine. It takes a fundamental belief in our own talents, skills, products, or services to let some potential clients know, “This ain’t gonna work.”

Don’t get me wrong; it stings when customers or clients tell us, “That’s a dumb pass!” But hey, we get to pick how we handle the opportunity – internalize it or grow from it.

I choose growth (“Thanks Pops!”). How about you?

Till next time.