Business travel is sometimes regarded by the general public as glamorous, especially for salespeople. The overall impression seems to be that traveling businesspeople get to sleep in late, golf with customers all day, sit down to a $100 steak dinner every night, then check in to a five-star hotel for a relaxing evening complete with champagne and pay-per-view.
But none of that is representative of what business travel is really like. Especially the part about five-star hotels.
No, the reality for most salespeople is quite a bit different. And the stories they can tell about their “motel hell” experiences are sometimes nothing short of repulsive.
Take this one for example, courtesy of About.com:
"As I dried my hair after my shower, I noticed there was a patch of something that was white, and gooey, sliding down the wall behind the TV and behind the dresser.”
Don’t really care to speculate about the nature of that particular gooey substance, but I can tell you I’ve had a few experiences of my own that I’d just as soon forget. I’ve found dried blood in hotel toilets and sinks, mushrooms growing in bathroom corners, telephones handsets that stick to your hand like Velcro, porno magazines in dresser drawers, dirty socks in closets, and pillowcases with fresh makeup smeared all over them.
Those discoveries are bad enough, for sure. But the all-time worst business-travel hotel experience I ever had happened at a nationally-recognized, mid-budget chain motel located in Pennsylvania.
When I walked into the room, the first thing I noticed was the buzzing of the alarm clock on the nightstand. When I turned it off, I saw that it had been set for 5:30 PM, but didn’t think anything of it at the time.
An hour later, I was comfortably nestled in bed watching TV when I noticed a hair (not mine) on my arm. I flicked it off, but a moment later, I saw another hair; this one was resting on the pillow behind my head. Then, upon a closer look at the sheets I was sandwiched between, I saw several more hairs.
Maybe it was a psychological reaction, but the next thing I knew, I was itching like crazy. I jumped out of the bed and peeled back the blankets. And there were literally hundreds of little black hairs all over the sheets. As a special bonus, these intrusive little hairs had a certain curly quality to them.
If that doesn’t convince you to pull back the covers and inspect the bed before you jump in, I don’t know what will.
That episode taught me an important lesson. It’s one think to “assume the sale.” It’s quite another to assume your hotel room was adequately cleaned, or even that the sheets were actually changed before your arrival. In retrospect, it would seem that a couple of inconsiderate guests had marked their territory on my rented bed in the motel that day, and set the alarm clock to wake themselves up long after the housekeeping staff had already left. Their little “extended checkout” maneuver caused me enough discomfort to warrant a late-night shower in the new room the front desk set me up with.
I don’t think I ever scrubbed harder or used more soap than I did that night.
Still intent on joining the ranks of salespeople that travel for a living? Good. Because despite the realities of life on the road, few career choices offer greater potential for success than the ones available in sales.
By: David DiCola
David DiCola is a 20-year management veteran and the author of Customer Golf – The Short Game, a novel about overcoming obstacles in business and in golf.
But none of that is representative of what business travel is really like. Especially the part about five-star hotels.
No, the reality for most salespeople is quite a bit different. And the stories they can tell about their “motel hell” experiences are sometimes nothing short of repulsive.
Take this one for example, courtesy of About.com:
"As I dried my hair after my shower, I noticed there was a patch of something that was white, and gooey, sliding down the wall behind the TV and behind the dresser.”
Don’t really care to speculate about the nature of that particular gooey substance, but I can tell you I’ve had a few experiences of my own that I’d just as soon forget. I’ve found dried blood in hotel toilets and sinks, mushrooms growing in bathroom corners, telephones handsets that stick to your hand like Velcro, porno magazines in dresser drawers, dirty socks in closets, and pillowcases with fresh makeup smeared all over them.
Those discoveries are bad enough, for sure. But the all-time worst business-travel hotel experience I ever had happened at a nationally-recognized, mid-budget chain motel located in Pennsylvania.
When I walked into the room, the first thing I noticed was the buzzing of the alarm clock on the nightstand. When I turned it off, I saw that it had been set for 5:30 PM, but didn’t think anything of it at the time.
An hour later, I was comfortably nestled in bed watching TV when I noticed a hair (not mine) on my arm. I flicked it off, but a moment later, I saw another hair; this one was resting on the pillow behind my head. Then, upon a closer look at the sheets I was sandwiched between, I saw several more hairs.
Maybe it was a psychological reaction, but the next thing I knew, I was itching like crazy. I jumped out of the bed and peeled back the blankets. And there were literally hundreds of little black hairs all over the sheets. As a special bonus, these intrusive little hairs had a certain curly quality to them.
If that doesn’t convince you to pull back the covers and inspect the bed before you jump in, I don’t know what will.
That episode taught me an important lesson. It’s one think to “assume the sale.” It’s quite another to assume your hotel room was adequately cleaned, or even that the sheets were actually changed before your arrival. In retrospect, it would seem that a couple of inconsiderate guests had marked their territory on my rented bed in the motel that day, and set the alarm clock to wake themselves up long after the housekeeping staff had already left. Their little “extended checkout” maneuver caused me enough discomfort to warrant a late-night shower in the new room the front desk set me up with.
I don’t think I ever scrubbed harder or used more soap than I did that night.
Still intent on joining the ranks of salespeople that travel for a living? Good. Because despite the realities of life on the road, few career choices offer greater potential for success than the ones available in sales.
By: David DiCola
David DiCola is a 20-year management veteran and the author of Customer Golf – The Short Game, a novel about overcoming obstacles in business and in golf.
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