Pretend You Didn't Get The Message
We had been in business for about a year and I was excited about the day in front of me. I had two prospect calls with senior marketing people in two Fortune 500 companies. It was a beautiful day, I was an entrepreneur, I was going to have fun, and I was going to close some business.
Well, the first meeting didn't go so well. Basically, they treated me poorly. It's a rather humbling experience to be "CEO" of a five person company. No one knows who you are and no one cares. You have zero leverage (more on that in a later posting). They made me wait in the reception area for about an hour. When I finally got a chance to do my pitch, it didn't seem like they wanted to share information with me or listen to a single thing I said. I remember walking out thinking "Oh, this is great. I left a great job at a great company to essentially get treated like an entry-level sales person. This certainly isn't going to be easy."
The good news was that I had another meeting planned at another major company for the afternoon. I'd show them. I was going to hit a homerun at that meeting.
On my drive back to the office I called in to get my voicemail messages. There was a message from my next appointment's secretary saying "Mr. Jones woke up this morning, saw your name on his calendar and wondered why he was going to meet with you. He wants to cancel the meeting and doesn't think there is a need to reschedule."
Well, it couldn't get any worse. That's it. I was done. Not too humbling an experience. And it wasn't even noon yet!
I decided to stop by my house for lunch on my way back to the office. I told my wife about my miserable day. She said, "pretend you didn't get the message." I said, "what?" She said, "pretend you didn't get the message and just go there anyway." Not too bad an idea, right?
So, I went to my appointment. I walked into the building and right up to the secretary. She said, "didn't you get the message?" I said, "what message?" Well, the secretary felt so bad that I never received the message she immediately "owed my one". She agreed to forward some of my company materials and reschedule the meeting. At least I had it back on my calendar.
Prior to the date of the next meeting, I called and left the following message:
"Good evening Mr. Jones. When you wake up tomorrow and check your calendar you are going to see my name on it. You are going to wonder why I am on your calendar and probably want to cancel the meeting. However, I've prepared an fairly detailed market analysis specific to your company and am anxious to share it with you. The good news is there is a lot of opportunity to drive incremental online sales for your business. The bad news is your competitors are one step ahead of you. I think, once you've had a chance to see the work I've prepared, you'll be glad we met. Thanks in advance for your time tomorrow and I look forward to meeting with you."
Well, we met. Long story short, we closed a $29,000 deal that turned in to a $150,000 deal that turned in to a $350,000 deal that turned in to a $1,400,000 deal. So, if someone calls to cancel the meeting, pretend you didn't get the message.
Well, the first meeting didn't go so well. Basically, they treated me poorly. It's a rather humbling experience to be "CEO" of a five person company. No one knows who you are and no one cares. You have zero leverage (more on that in a later posting). They made me wait in the reception area for about an hour. When I finally got a chance to do my pitch, it didn't seem like they wanted to share information with me or listen to a single thing I said. I remember walking out thinking "Oh, this is great. I left a great job at a great company to essentially get treated like an entry-level sales person. This certainly isn't going to be easy."
The good news was that I had another meeting planned at another major company for the afternoon. I'd show them. I was going to hit a homerun at that meeting.
On my drive back to the office I called in to get my voicemail messages. There was a message from my next appointment's secretary saying "Mr. Jones woke up this morning, saw your name on his calendar and wondered why he was going to meet with you. He wants to cancel the meeting and doesn't think there is a need to reschedule."
Well, it couldn't get any worse. That's it. I was done. Not too humbling an experience. And it wasn't even noon yet!
I decided to stop by my house for lunch on my way back to the office. I told my wife about my miserable day. She said, "pretend you didn't get the message." I said, "what?" She said, "pretend you didn't get the message and just go there anyway." Not too bad an idea, right?
So, I went to my appointment. I walked into the building and right up to the secretary. She said, "didn't you get the message?" I said, "what message?" Well, the secretary felt so bad that I never received the message she immediately "owed my one". She agreed to forward some of my company materials and reschedule the meeting. At least I had it back on my calendar.
Prior to the date of the next meeting, I called and left the following message:
"Good evening Mr. Jones. When you wake up tomorrow and check your calendar you are going to see my name on it. You are going to wonder why I am on your calendar and probably want to cancel the meeting. However, I've prepared an fairly detailed market analysis specific to your company and am anxious to share it with you. The good news is there is a lot of opportunity to drive incremental online sales for your business. The bad news is your competitors are one step ahead of you. I think, once you've had a chance to see the work I've prepared, you'll be glad we met. Thanks in advance for your time tomorrow and I look forward to meeting with you."
Well, we met. Long story short, we closed a $29,000 deal that turned in to a $150,000 deal that turned in to a $350,000 deal that turned in to a $1,400,000 deal. So, if someone calls to cancel the meeting, pretend you didn't get the message.
