In 1996, I landed an appointment with a high-level prospect. I wanted to make sure that we nailed the meeting, so I brought my manager with me. Our appointment was scheduled for 1:30, and we checked in with the reception desk at 1:20 or so. About 20 minutes later, and we were still waiting. At 1:45, I asked the receptionist to check on my contact, Kayla. She buzzed her desk, and instructed me to take a seat – that she’ll be a few more minutes. Before I could turn around to return to my chair, my boss stood up and said: “Let’s go. Kayla’s obviously slammed right now, and we’ve got a busy afternoon.” He then looked at the receptionist, and with the charm of Trent from Swingers, stated “Nicky, please tell Kayla that Chris will contact her to reschedule. We’ve got a few other appointments this afternoon and have to run.”
It was awesome. I stood there in awe of this guy, taking complete control of a situation in which we had zero control. We’re the sales people, hoping the get 60 minutes with a highly sought-after prospect. My boss turned the conversation 180 degrees. Now, we were in control. As concerned as I was, I knew I was watching a 20th century Jedi master. In the parking lot, my sage calmly stated: “Now she knows that you’re the boss. She’ll call you before we get back to the office.” This guy was the best!
Only one problem: Kayla never took my call again. In a freaky coincidence, I caught up with her at a Tampa Bay Lightning hockey game months later. She remembered me, and said she was turned off by our lack of patience. She went on to explain how horrified she was at making us wait, but her guilt was eliminated when she learned that we left after 15 minutes.
The anecdote above is perfect when writing a book or telling a story to other sales people, but that’s about it. You know the act: the cocky sales person telling the big prospect that they’re not worthy of receiving the sales person’s services, until the prospect is begging him to sell her something, no matter how much it costs. Again, a great movie scene. Unfortunately, we’re not living in the movies.
The other extreme is just as unsuccessful. If you cower and allow yourself to get walked over by your prospects, then you’re in for a very long and arduous career. So, what’s the answer?
When a prospect or customer is late for a sales call, I use a five-step process that works. It’s such an effective plan that I hope prospects are late for our meetings.
