Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are emerging from your tryptophan coma's. This year, mine was great. Got to wake in my own home, watch a spectacular parade whilst still in my PJ's and then head to my dear sisters home, where she had tackled all the cooking, decorating and general distribution of mirth required to insure all attending were happy, stuffed and sleepy by 6pm.
As I sat in a stupor watching my nieces and nephew race around with WAAAAY to much energy, my thoughts drifted back, back, back... to a different Thanksgiving, a VERY different Thanksgiving.
My company has been in business since 1994 and I have been a part of the team since the beginning. Over the years I have worn just about every hat, usually more than one at a time, including sales. For those of you in sales, I am about to say something you will all nod your heads in agreement with, 'When your compensation is tied to what you bring in, you will do whatever it takes to close a deal, especially a big one.' During those first few years, it was critical that we nurture every potential client relationship and that meant traveling wherever, and whenever, there was a warm body with the authority to sign a contract! Even on the day before the biggest travel day of the year. ( I know, the busiest travel day of the year is actually a Friday in July, but humor me here, the last Thursday in November is a biggie, too.) That is how I wound up in Dallas, TX on an exceedingly warm last Wednesday in November back in the late 1990's prepared to call on the client that could double our next years revenue and give me a very, very Merry Christmas.
I had flown in the evening before and was lucky enough to secure one of the last hotel rooms in the city, had a great night's sleep and was totally 'on' during my sales presentation. I hit every point, could see that I had them in the palm of my hand and just KNEW the deal was going to close when the Director I was presenting to asked me if I could meet with her VP. The VP? Heck yeah, I'll meet with your Great Aunt Tootsie it she is authorized to sign on the dotted line. So, I waited...and waited... and waited. Until my flight home was starting to board at the Dallas/Ft.Worth Airport. I called my office and had Vicky, the company 'fixer' book me on a later flight. Later, in this case meant the next day, Thanksgiving Day, at 11pm, but I didn't mind because I was going to get this huge deal and that would make up for no turkey. She also arranged a room for me, not at the place I had stayed the night before, at a place closer to the airport. It wasn't a 'name' but, hey, how bad could it be?
Finally, my about to be newest client came in to apologize for the long wait and tell me that the VP had left. Apparently he had to pick up some last minute items for his family feast and the little woman was not going to wait until after he chatted with some salesperson. However, he really did want to meet with me and his admin had overheard me changing my travel plans so he insisted I join his family for Thanksgiving dinner. I would have demurred, but he was gone and I was being handed directions to his home, so I figured it would make a great story and I should lighten up and go with the flow. (Not a trait I posess in abundance)
On the way to my lodging for the evening I swung into a shopping mall and picked up a new blouse to wear, having not packed anything other than the bare minimum, and had a burger and beer at a nice little pub. It was about 9pm when I pulled into the parking lot of what was clearly the 'No-Tell Motel'
I will admit that I was judging a book by it's cover, but pink stucco and a sign with more letters dark than illuminated does not exactly promise comfort, nor did the orange and burnt umber once shag carpet that now looked more like something afflicted with mange. Still, it was just for the night and tomorrow I would have a nice dinner with what would surely be the biggest client my firm had yet to acquire, so, smile plastered firmly in place I strode up to the receptionist and cheerfully announced that I had arrived and would LOVE to check in to her fine establishment.
She smiled back a surprisingly warm greeting and began clickety-clacking on her keyboard. The faster her fingers flew, the dimmer her smile became. I began to feel the creeping fingers of anxiety as I watched her furrow her brow and study her computer screen as if it were the Rosetta Stone until finally, rather than reaching into a cubby and producing a room key which I just knew would be chained to a varnished piece of lumber, she looked up and began to speak. The first word out of her mouth was my least favorite to hear. "Unfortunately...." (nothing good ever follows that word and I began to feel the buzz of panic) "it IS the night before Thanksgiving" (no kidding Sweetheart, I should be on my way to my cozy and CLEAN home right now, not here. And why are my feet sticking to the carpet?) "and when you didn't get here earlier" (Earlier? It's only 9pm!) "we had to give your room away to another guest." (ARGHHHH!!!) I am in a full-blown four-alarm panic. If this dump is sold out, you can bet there is no place else with the sound of my screams. My mind is racing. It's too muggy to sleep in the car, but maybe I can crash on the red naugahyde banquet is see across the lobby. Of course, I will doubtless awaken not only stuck to it, but will surely bear the imprint of it's fabulous faux crocodile patten impressed into one side of my face all day. Won't that impress the VP and his Missus? As I am feverishly weighing my options, trying not to burst into tears and feeling faint I become aware that Miss NoTell is still speaking to me.
"However..." (What? My vision begins to clear) "I was able to book you a room..." (The clouds are parting and I can feel my fingers again) "At the Marriott four blocks away..." (A choir of Angels is singing, I swear, really) As I bolt into the humid darkness I can hear her finishing "and breakfast is on us either there or back here, your choice." (Yeah, that's a no-brainer. Buh-bye!)
Ninety minutes later, as I sat in my clean-fluffy Mariott robe after a glorious shower I found myself wondering why it is that people feel compelled to make bad news even worse by padding it with words and details that don't really add value or even matter. In this instance, yes, she didn't have a room for me, but she did have an option, and a darn good one at that. But before sharing it with me, she had to hit me with so much negative wording that the floor opened under me and I plunged into the 'black hole of despair'. It would have been so much easier, and pleasant for the both of us if she had used the technique of 'Positioning Information Positively' and said something like, "Great news, you are booked into a room at the Marriott, only four blocks away and it comes with a complimentary breakfast". Positioning Information Positively involves three components; focus on the positive by putting it first, remove weak and negative wording and be sure and let them know why what you are offering is good for them.
It is a skill that takes a bit of practice, but the benefits are huge! Not only do you instill confidence in your customers, but you reduce the chances that you will have to spend time calming and comforting unhappy folks. Think of it this way; if you throw someone into the pit and then have a solution that brings them back up to ground level, what would that solution do to someone who is already feeling good? Right, take them into the clouds. Yes they may wonder why you are offering them something different than what they expected, but if you offer it with confidence and let them know why it is good for them, odds are they aren't going to think about it for too long.
(Oh, and dinner was just amazing! Texan's throw a BIG Thanksgiving and my hosts were so warm and welcoming. I could not have had a better time. Didn't get the contract signed, however. Turned out that Mr. VP didn't actually have the authority I thought he did. Didn't have the authority HE thought he should have had, either, he left that company in January... and went to an even bigger organization. I got a call from him in April of that year and, while I didn't get invited to Easter brunch, I did get the training engagement for his new organization and he is still a client today and, no, I never did tell him about that night. Well, I guess he knows now.)
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