Where Is Inspiration?

Two weeks ago, I had three meetings (sales call, lunch, sales call) back to back to back in the same area -- about 15 miles from my office.

At about 11 a.m. the day before these meetings, my lunch got canceled. Not really having time to drive back and forth, I was therefore faced with eating alone. And since I really hate eating alone, I thought, "How can I be absolutely sure I get a lunch date for tomorrow, given the short notice?"

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From: Gill E. Wagner
To: [Full Name]
Subject: I Need A Lunch Date Tomorrow In The West End

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Hi, [FirstName],

I had lunch scheduled for tomorrow (Friday) in the Central West End, but it got canceled. However, I have meetings in the area before and after, so I have a choice to make:

1. I can eat alone.
2. I can find someone eating alone and ask if he or she wants company.
3. I can ask people to join me for lunch last minute.

Option 1 is out -- I hate eating alone.

Option 2 is always fun, but sometimes people are cranky and don't want company -- which dumps me right back into Option 1, which you already know I hate.

So I choose Option 3. And I'm thinking a Wisdom Swap might be just the ticket.

Here's how this works (someone must play timekeeper):

• We each buy our own meal. (That's the only cost.)
• One person gets one minute to pose a question to the group. (After you ask the question you must zip your lip so that others are free to brainstorm without interruption.)
• Three people get two minutes to offer an answer to your question.
• The first person gets 30 seconds to ask a follow-up question that one person will answer for 60 more seconds.

We do this throughout the entire meal, and we all get to look back and say, "I can't believe how much smarter I got in the last hour and a half."

If you're free from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and want to participate in this Wisdom Swap lunch, reply before 4 p.m. today and make a rock-solid commitment to being there.

After I know how many, I'll pick the place and let you know where. (If we get a really big group, we'll probably break into smaller groups given the short notice.)

Please don't make me eat alone!

Thanks,

Gill

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Here were my stats:

• I used mail merge to send 367 personal e-mails.
• 20 people replied and said they would attend.
• 71 replied and said some form of "I can't make this one but it sounds great. Please invite me next time."
• 12 people showed up, participated and gave glowing reviews after the lunch ended.

Want to hear something interesting? I actually made up the term "Wisdom Swap" and invented the Wisdom Swap process while I was writing the invitation -- now I'm trademarking it.

Where is inspiration? It's hiding in the shadows of complacency. To find it, do something different.

Gill E. Wagner, Sage of Selling
President of Honest Selling
Founder of the Yellow-Tie International Business Development Association