Back in the day when I was pounding the pavement like a caveman looking for food…

Wall Street was crashing and I was about to lose a client to a cheap imitation of what we provided because people were afraid, cutting budgets,…all the usual stuff the firms do when things slow down and there is uncertainty. I was selling a service to Wall Street brokers, investment banks….

Well being the crazy son of a bitch that I am I wouldn’t take no for an answer so I asked my buyer (who shall go unnamed to protect the innocent)Â when I could meet to talk (and change his mind). He said 6:30AM at his office.  Well, I live in DC and his office is in Jersey City so that meant I had to get to NY, get a hotel in Jersey City and get my butt out of bed at the crack of dawn to do my thing. Many challenges…but no stopping me…

I woke up early (the police sirens all night meant I didn’t need a wake up call), made my way there by 6AM so I would be there before he walked through the door.  We went to his trading desk, CNBC was blasting like it always is…and this was right after 9/11 and this gentlemen was not shy about his commentary of Mr. Bin Laden (I can’t repeat the commentary but let’s put it this way – it wasn’t politically correct).  Anyway, in the middle of his ranting, getting ready for the day, talking to traders, barking orders at his gophers…. I said to him…you are a crazy bastard…he stopped, looked up at me and said “I gotta eat!!!…”

Long story short, we talked, I changed his decision, we kept the business!  Can you imagine what would have happened if I tried to script my way through a sales call talking all this canned sales talk garbage?  He would have thrown me out the front door with the help of his muscle bound trader boys and I would have lost.

This is a true story and just one of many…be yourself, size up your buyer, adapt, do what it takes to make a connection, and close.

Have a great day and Get Mental and Sell More!

Brick