Personal - The Frog Concept

Yesterday, on an excursion in Yuen Long, my mother and I came across a bookstore holding a firesale. At the focus of my attention were 4 brown cardboard boxes, with books selling for $10 HKG apiece. As I scanned these boxes for hidden treasures, mother repeatedly declared: "at ten dollars apiece, these books are as cheap as a copy of the daily newspaper." I took advantage of this sale and came out of the store with sore arms and 12 books. All of these books are of the self-help genre and were printed in Taiwan.

Throughout today, I devoured parts of this dozen books voraciously. There is one anecdote from "Be a Man Who Have [Has] a Smooth Character." This anecdote can be found in the introduction.

Twenty years ago, there was a young man freshly out of highschool. He was quickly hired as a car salesman. The young man approached his job with great enthusiasm, but failed to sell any vehicles. Over several months, the young man's confidence melted. He soon came to a conclusion that he was not made for the business of selling cars. However, he wouldn't give up so easily. He made up his mind that if he remained unsuccessful in the coming month, he would quit his job. The month was long and gloomy. Yet again, the young man failed to sell a thing! Despondent, he decides to submit his letter of resignation. On the way to the office, the young man passed by some fields where felt an urge to urinate. As he went about his task, he noticed a frog on the ground. In a bit of a childish fit, he decided to urinate on the frog. He wanted to release all his anger and frustration on the poor frog. He assumed that once the frog was aware of the stream of the not-so-lovely substance on its back that it would at once dart off in disgust. To the man's surprise, the frog remained in a relaxed position as if enjoying a spa. "Aha!" the young man shouted. He learned an important lesson from the frog. In order to win sales, he had to apply the "frog tactic" - meaning that as a salesman, he must be willing to receive any rejections and harsh words from every potential client. The harsh words and painful rejections, like the stream of urine upon the frog's body, must be accepted. Every harsh word uttered is a challenge he must accept and overcome. It is through becoming like the frog that he can flourish and succeed. Armed with this new insight, the young man disposed of his resignation letter in a hurry. He arrived at work, sharp, and ready for the challenges to come. Things did not change at once. The young man continued to receive rejection after rejection, but eventually he made his first sale after 1800 tries. Five years after his first sale, he was selling 30 cars per month. Twenty years later, he became the champion car salesman of Japan.

I have no way of verifying whether this story is true or fabricated. However, it holds a very important truth, that one must be willing to lay aside his pride if he wants to succeed. When one is unwilling to risk losing face, one can accomplish very little.