I had the great privilege of meeting someone who truly had a passion for his career today.

I had to buy a suit for some upcoming speaking engagements today at Joseph A. Banks. The gentleman who waited on me was named Milton. As I began to look at suits and get to know this “Milton man” it became very obvious that this man loved to sell suits for a living.

It is unfortunate that we do not have more retail associates like Milton. He was very careful to take everything into consideration when speaking with me about what I wanted in my new suit. We looked at every color and style of suit in my size because Milton wanted to make sure I knew all of my options and saw every possible suit I could buy before I made a decision.

Once I found the suit we had to pick the shirt and the tie. We looked at a white shirt and a blue shirt. Then we laid out at least 15 ties trying to find the one that went best with the white shirt I chose to wear with my new blue pinstripe suit.

Milton went on to tell me that he has been selling men’s suits since he was out of college. Now that may not be a big deal for someone who is in their 30s, but Milton is in his late 60s or early 70s. He has worked for companies like Ralph Lauren and American Eagle over his long and illustrious career in merchandising / retails. You would think that 70-year-old Milton would be bitter and disgruntled to be spending his Saturday night working at a suit store, but his attitude was up beat and positive. Shouldn’t he be kicking back and taking it easy with his wife on a Saturday night? Milton may have not wanted to work this particular Saturday but if he didn’t he sure didn’t show it. His attitude was positive and made me feel like this purchase was the most important purchase I have made since I bought my house. He also made me feel like it was as important to him as it was to me. This is a true mark of a passionate retail associate. His passion was infectious. It made me feel good about buying this suit so much that I bought a second one that we looked at earlier in the shopping experience.

Milton was great. He has passion for what he did and therefore made my buying experience much easier and enjoyable. I left Joseph A. Banks feeling like that was the best retail experience I may have ever had.

To summarize what Milton did right:

1. He had a positive attitude.
2. He loved the product he was selling; men’s suits
3. His personality reflected his love for his job.
4. He was patient with the customer
5. He knew everything there was to know about the smallest details of the products he sold, men’s business attire.
6. He tried to up sell in a tactful way.
7. He tried to get to know his customer rather than just pushing me out the door after the sale.
8. He was friendly
9. He opened up and let us know a little bit more about who he is as a person so we felt more comfortable with him.
10. He made me feel like my suit purchase was as important to him as it was to me.

Milton was great. He wouldn’t let me take his picture with fear of it ending up on the internet. It’s not like I have a blog or web site that I could have posted it right? Milton told me he didn’t want me to take hispicture because he didn’t want to beome famous . Well, sorry Milton you are going to have to live with your fame for now. Or at least until this post goes into the archives.

Hopefully you have your own picture of Milton in your head. Maybe it’s someone you know or maybe even yourself. Since Milton wouldn’t allow me to take his picture please insert your picture here.