What's In Your Essential Tool Pouch?
25-year old Argentinian Juan is a bit of a case. At the time, playing up bartending at an El Born crepes and cocktail place.
Before his latest shift, he popped into Neuve 9, round the corner where I was at the bar enjoying a cheeky Jamesons. Luckily for us both, I’d been to his homeland and he’d been to mine, and we’d both enjoyed it.
Juan was checking out his ‘pouch’. He was very proud of it.
He’d curated it himself. It featured all the tools he needed to be a dazzling barman.
Even down to those bent-looking long tweezers. They were for picking up mint leaves for mojitos.
The pride he took in his job was terrific to see. He wasn’t going to spend the rest of his life behind a cocktail bar. But he still cared for what he was doing. You just can’t teach this.
(I’m reminded of the famous 70s sporting quote, “if I were a roadsweeper, my streets would be the cleanest in the town”.)
The number of times I see a salesperson rock up and wing it really annoys me.
I’ve even seen them turn up to meetings without even a pen and paper.
There is an equivalent of Juan’s pouch.
And you don’t need a suitcase for it either.
In a simple folder the size of a notebook you can hold not just a tablet computer, but a testimonial slide, contract, blank sheets, whiteboard marker, coloured pens, magazine article. All sorts of things that’ll help get points across, uncover real needs and further your cause.
Have you got your barman’s pouch?
And when you have yours, you’ll look way cooler than Juan, for sure!
