The older man stared out of the window.
He stood at the far end of the boardroom.
He beckoned my colleague to join him.
The window overlooked the car park of his very successful business.
“Which is your car?” he asked.
“Oh, it’s that shiny new Ford XXX over there” replied my colleague.
“Well”, said the old man, in a strong Yorkshire accent,
“Do you see that Rolls Royce over there? That’s my car. I didn’t need your f*****g company when I started this business, and I don’t f*****g need it now.”
Meetings like these are the stuff of legend within sales teams.
One of my personal favourites was a meeting with a very untidy sales director.
Untidy doesn’t do justice to his office and desk.
Loose papers and files covered both.
I didn’t know how he could work in such disorder.
To illustrate, as we talked, his phone rang, but he couldn’t find it.
Papers went up in the air.
Files were lifted.
If there had been any order to those items before the phone rang (which I doubted), there would have been absolutely none after.
After a minute or so of watching him hunt around, I joined the search.
I found the phone underneath papers in the bottom drawer of his desk.
We both acted as normal and picked-up our discussion as soon as the call finished.
It was as though, the chaotic search had never happened.
Sales meetings with key buyers can be hard to get.
When you do finally get in front of them, you don’t want to blow what could be your one big chance to win an order.
One way to increase your chance of success is to meet a buyer before your pitch.
Trade shows can provide that icebreaker.
A sales meeting with a buyer you’ve met at a trade show doesn’t start from cold.
It’s a follow-on from your meeting at the show.
That’s a much better place to start from.
It’s what How To Use Trade Shows To Get Sales Appointments is all about.
Use trade shows to set up appointments at shows that will increase your chance of winning sales post-event.
You can buy it now at a discounted rate of £14.95.
To order, see this page.
Very best,
David O’Beirne