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December 06, 2010

Presence of mind

A sales person is supposed to live on his wits. The following story explains the role of smart working. In the Madras Presidency as it was then called only the Governor of the province could drive a carriage drawn by 5 horses. A rich local businessman committed an ultimate faux pas – he was caught driving a carriage drawn with 5 horses. He was hauled to the court.  The rich man was not upset at being hauled to the court. He appointed a very smart lawyer and told him “I can pay the hefty fine but that would mean that I have committed a crime. I will pay you three to five times the penalty but you have to prove me not guilty”. The smart lawyer assured the rich man that he could go home and sleep tight.

Finally the day of the reckoning arrived. The smart lawyer said “your honor! I agree driving the carriage drawn by five horses by anyone other than the governor is a heinous crime. Let us examine the photograph of the carriage drawn by five horses. This photograph was taken on the day of the crime” The layer dramatically points to the photograph and says “your honor this is a horse, this too is a horse; this one too is a horse, but your honor this is a MARE (a female horse). This means your honor this carriage was drawn by four horses and a mare. In which case my client did not commit any crime. I request you to dismiss the case”. The judge had no choice but to dismiss the case. Every sales person needs to have the same presence of mind.

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