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I think you're not in sales, then? Yes, of course there are a few other things to talk about, but even "news and weather" is dangerous, because some think Loui
by jwatte 10y ago
I think you're not in sales, then?
Yes, of course there are a few other things to talk about, but even "news and weather" is dangerous, because some think Louisiana is currently showing us the future of global warming, and others think it shows that people who choose not to insure their property should not be rewarded with a bail out, lest there be moral hazard.
Sports is the safe bet.
- toolz 10y agoHow is sports more safe than weather or current events? Not everyone keeps up with sports as a whole and much less keep up with the specific sport you would mention.
- spiderfarmer 10y agoPersonally I would never skip a subject just because someone might disagree. Are sales people really trained to be as superficial as possible?
- adiabatty 10y agoI've been trained pretty well to avoid anything politics-adjacent, and I'm not in sales.
- jamestnz 10y agoNo, but sales can often be based upon personal relationships, at least to an extent. So you see why a salesperson may be accustomed to treading lightly around contentious topics. If you stake out a strong position on a controversial topic, you risk alienating your conversation partners. Of course friends can discuss whatever they want. But in less familiar company, one may want to avoid topics that can lead to disagreements. Politics and religion being the classic examples. Or, as the Professor told Eliza: "Stick to the weather, and everybody's health".
- machinshin_ 10y agoIt's not "superficial", it's a it not offending your (potential) customer. I would assume that once the two people get to know one another the window of safe topics would become broader
- Someone 10y agoSafe, if you avoid mentioning doping, the effects of concussion on the brain, whether it is ethical to ride horses (more so to jump fences and to use a whip), the ethics of nations training 4 year olds for gymnastics, the fairness of juries in boxing/gymnastics/dressage, whether a sport should be in the Olympics (for example, where are the motor sports?), whether we should have separate events for lesser abled competitors (Paralympics, but also weight classes in judo, boxing, rowing, etc) etc. For example, if I state gymnastics isn't a sport, just as ballet isn't, and that watching it means condoning child torture, is that a safe bet? (Edit: and that's ingoring the really contentious subjects such as whether England really scored that third goal in 1966)
- stephengillie 10y agofor example, where are the motor sports? Or electronic gaming? Where are the League events? The Olympics are in Rio, but everyone's watching Seattle for the DOTA 2016 International tournament.
- InclinedPlane 10y agoI would rather have half my limbs shoved into an industrial shredder than have our world's modes of social interaction determined exclusively by how sales people interact.