A leaf of lettuce on her head saved the sale. True!!!!
By Steve Waterhouse

One of my past coaching clients wrote to tell me about one of her worst business lunches ever. I love this story because it has happened to all of us in some way. I also like it because Wendy has the ability to step aside and see her own actions and learn from them. That's a skill we can all stand to improve.

Wendy's story:

Sometimes I think I've made every mistake in the book, but this is one of my favorite multi-blunder meeting stories to share (or you could describe it as how everything wrong might just turn out right, if you pay attention and are willing to adapt).

The Director of Marketing for my largest client in Los Angeles agreed to meet with me for the first time, but her schedule was so tight that we had to meet over lunch. I had been working on this meeting for over a year and finally it was happening.

She picked her favorite Italian restaurant several miles away from her office.

I had been in meetings all day and I was exhausted. When we arrived at the restaurant, it was the 10th business meal this week and I felt as though I had been eating my way through Los Angeles . In a feeble attempt to get back on my diet, I choose a calorie conscious salad as my entree (this was my first big mistake). After our marginally competent waiter took our orders, I launched into my spiel. My goal, of course, was to get through all my entire presentation before our meals arrived.

Off I went at 90 miles an hour!

Somewhere between a bar graph and a pie chart, I felt something falling around my head and shoulders. As happens in all of these critical moments in my life, the whole world seemed to be moving in slow motion. I reached up on my shoulder to brush off what had fallen and found a lettuce leaf. I turned to see our poor waiter nearly in tears preparing to wipe off my head with his towel. It seems, as he was quickly moving from one person to another, he had accidentally dumped an entire freshly tossed house salad directly on my head. So, there I was trying to project the most professional image possible with a crouton in my front suit pocket and deep red raspberry walnut dressing dripping out of my blonde hair.

I was so embarrassed! My mind was racing, searching for the prefect solution. Do I pretend like nothing happened? Do I laugh it off? Should I get angry with our clumsy waiter? Is this woman going to remember anything I said before she saw me wearing a salad?

There was a brief, but panicked exchange between the waiter and myself. I assured him that I understood it was an accident and did my best regain my composure.

I excused myself to the ladies room and tried to recover my professional appearance.

Returning to the table, I found my potential client looking at her watch and tapping her finger on the table. My food had still not arrived and my presentation was not yet finished. I took a deep breath and headed toward the table.

Now this is where instinct comes in. I sat down and did what I tend to do when all else fails: I was honest. I told her how much I wanted to win her business and how important I felt my first impression should be. After my confession, she burst in laugher. "Not very many people wear their lunch as well as you do. I'm sure I'll always remember this meeting", she said.

So, the rest of our meeting was a frank discussion about her challenges and her goals for marketing in Los Angeles . Thankfully, I never finished my presentation. It had nothing to do with her real needs and was clearly boring the heck out of her.

Here's what I learned from that meeting.

1. Give presentations in a presentation friendly environment. A flip chart in a crowded restaurant doesn't provide your presentation with the attention it deserves.

2. A presentation should provide solutions to "known" client problems. A first encounter is a risky time to tell your client what you are going to do for them.

3. Order entrees that match your outfit. Raspberry salad dressing on a tan suit...not a good thing!

Thanks Wendy, and thank you for the permission to share this.

Sales is a great profession and one that we all take quite seriously. Fortunately, it is also a fun life style that gives us more great experiences than the average person. Each experience is an opportunity to learn and grow. Sometimes the key is a great sense of humor.

You might also be interested in a new article entitled, “The 5 Steps to Keeping Your Sales Team Focused”. You can get a free copy by sending an email to article9@waterhousegroup.com.

Steve Waterhouse is Principal and Founder of Waterhouse Group (www.waterhousegroup.com), a sales consulting and training company that helps companies dramatically increase their sales. He can be reached at 1-800-57-LEARN or info@waterhousegroup.com.
 

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