Comeupance. That's the word that comes to mind. Like a karmic shot to the solar plexus. The kind that knocks all the wind out of you, leaving you doubled over and unable to speak. That's what I got one beautiful Winter day in 1996 - a comeupance.
I was the Director of Olympic Sales for The Official Olympic Information Radio Station. Chances are that you didn't know there was such a thing as The Official Olympic Information Radio Station because chances are that our radio station was the first and only one to be so designated. This was supposed to mean that the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games would favor us with exclusive access to Olympic athletes and information. We would then package these nuggets of fascination into vignettes and then sell sponsorship to the vignettes and other Olympic news. What it really meant was that we were the only radio station willing to fork over money to be designated as The Official Olympic Information Radio Station. Since the station had forked over the money and now needed a return on its investment, I was hired to direct the efforts of the sales team. That is how I became the only Director of Olympic Sales at a radio station in the history of the Olympics - which dates back a couple of thousand years, you know.
Pretty special I was and on that Winter day in early 1996, my specialness was about to pay off because I had an appointment with the V. P. of Media at one of Atlanta's biggest advertising agencies. This big agency represented one of the biggest local sponsors of the Olympic Games and I was headed in there to make a presentation regarding sponsorship opportunities on The Official Olympic Information Radio Station. By my side was the #1 biller at our radio station. We'll call her Dee.
Dee had the relationship with the agency and she had worked long and hard at my request to get us an appointment. On the day of the appointment, she came by my desk and said, "Ready?".
I was ready. I had a 30-slide Powerpoint presentation. As everyone knows, a Powerpoint presentation is the key to all sales. (My understanding is that Powerpoint is so powerful that President Bush used it to sell the Iraq war to Congress.) My Powerpoint presentation had shiny graphics, cool fades both in and out and it even had music. Totally freakin' cool.
On the way up the elevator to the penthouse suite, Dee says to me, "What role would you like me to play in the presentation?"
A reasonable question from the #1 biller at the radio station. After all, she had about $4 billion dollars worth of revenue on the books, knew everything there was to know about our radio station and the Olympic programs and had the relationship with the agency.
"When you see an opportunity to jump in, just be ready to support my position with some sort of joyful agreement," I said.
"Okay." But, it wasn't really an "okay" as in "sounds good". It was an "okay" where the "o" is separated from the "kay" and the "o" is said in a higher pitch than the "kay". Kind of in "that sounds like a foolish plan from a foolish man".
We are ushered into a fabulous corner office with a spectacular view of the Olympic city. After a few niceties we settled into chairs. Well, I sat on a chair on one side of a coffee table while Dee and The Client sat on a couch on the other side.
I said, "Thanks for agreeing to meet with us. I have prepared a presentation to familiarize you with our Olympic features and then would like to discuss ways to customize our assets into a program that helps your client activate their Olympic sponsorship on a local level."
"Sounds good."
So, I break out my laptop and notice that I have forgotten my cord. Slight concern but I know that I have two hours of battery power and the Powerpoint shouldn't take longer than thirty minutes.
Someone forget to tell the laptop, though, and it went blank on the third slide.
There would be no shiny graphics.
No fades in or out.
No music.
I rummaged around in my computer bag and pulled out a pamphlet that the radio station had printed. This showed all the elements of our programs. I decided to explain each program element.
One of our cooler elements were vignettes that were produced by a reporter named Ed Hula. Ed used to be a network radio reporter or something like that until he decided to follow the Olympic games exclusively. The primary way that he made money was selling subscriptions to his Olympic Newsletter. His audio vignettes aired exclusively on our station.
So, I was going on about Ed Hula and how cool he was and how he had become well-known for his Olympic coverage.
"In fact, there is a picture of him with Juan Antonio Samaranch (the head honcho of the Internation Olympic Committee) on our brochure."
Dee and the client said together, "Where?"
"Right there on the back of the brochure."
Dee leaned over to look at the client's brochure and said, "That's not Ed Hula, that is Billy Payne (local lawyer who had practically singlehandedly brought the Olympics to Atlanta)."
Perhaps, I blacked out. I'm not sure. The next thing I remember is me and Dee back in the elevator - heading down.
Dee looks at my reflection on the mirrored walls of the elevator doors and says, "That went well."
I would have answered but I was having trouble breathing.
Lessons learned:
1) Be prepared. Many of us walk out the door with our shirttails hanging out and our ties in a loop around our necks. We don't have respect for deadlines and assume we can wing it if something goes wrong. C'mon. We're better than that. Let's resolve to be 100% ready to leave at least 30 minutes before necessary so we can double check things like laptop cords.
2) Be intimately familiar with your presentation materials. How is it possible to think that a picture of Billy Payne is one of Ed Hula? Maybe because I hadn't read the caption under the picture. Maybe because I had never asked anyone. Maybe because I was an arrogant fool.
3) Assume your technology is not going to work. We should have had a second laptop and the presentation should have been burned on a disk. The presentation should have been printed!
4) Get your team on the same page. Dee really didn't mind that I had failed because she wasn't a part of the presentation from the beginning. Ridiculous! She was the expert - not me. I should have put her in the spotlight and been happy to play a supporting role. That's what sales manager are for - support of sales people.
Well, it was a long time ago and I am a better seller and sales manager for having experienced it. Now, it's time for you to share a story and the lessons learned. Click on "comments" below and let us know your worst sales call.
1 comment:
This was a great story! Good lesson to take to work.
I have one story, of many, where I made a call to set up an appointment. A call that I knew was over in the first 30 seconds. I should have never made the call without being prepared. I was very busy with some paperwork, but I knew I had to make the call to this company I was chasing. The problem is that I let my dialing fingers go ahead of my thought process, and by the time I knew it I was in a deep hole.
I didn’t have my notes in front of me about this company, so I frantically looked into my database for what I knew about them (my attempt to sound prepared). I was doing this while I was trying to explain to him the reason for my call (I was stumbling through my words and thoughts). I made myself look like a rookie and lost control of the call from the get-go.
Before I knew it the call was over and I had not given him any good reason to continue talking with me. I sounded more like a telemarketer calling to switch his long distance service than a consultant that had a product that would bring his company more productivity and greater efficiencies.
"Be prepared!" I said to myself. There is nothing like a call coming to an end or being hung up on before you get started. I was supposed to get what I thought was an easy appointment and what I got was the grim reminder that lack of preparation leads to lack of success.
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