Ambushed Part 1
by Andrew Shedden
It’s the same as every other day, but different
Well you’ve finally got an appointment to talk to Bert Smith, the Vice President of the Monolithic Food Corporation. With a song in your heart you shine your shoes, cut your nails, get your materials together, wash your car, and drive down the expressway to Monolithic’s headquarters. You arrive ten minutes early, politely identify yourself to the receptionist, and wait to be ushered into the inner sanctum.
At precisely ten minutes past your assigned appointment time Bert Smith comes into the reception area, shakes your paw, and asks you to accompany him to the boardroom. You walk into the boardroom with Bert and there are twelve skeptical people sitting around the table. Surprise, you’ve just been ambushed, ain’t sales great? Good old Bert just trussed you up like a Christmas turkey.
Take a deep breath and smile
I sometimes wonder what motivates some executives to torture lowly salespeople by creating these ambushes. What I do know is that ambushes are a great test of your mettle as they can generate great fear. Now’s the time to take a deep breath and smile because you instantly know exactly what to do in order to capitalize on the situation. The best things to do when ambushed are to not waste time on pleasantries and immediately take control of the meeting. The easiest way for you to control the meeting is to quickly set the stage.
Set the stage
Prior to asking questions you need to take a minute and set the stage. If you set the stage properly you will instantly differentiate yourself from your competitors and dramatically increase the possibility of pocketing a nice commission cheque. Here’s how I would suggest you proceed:
“Mr. Smith, and other group members, the first thing I’d like to know is if this is still a good time to have this preliminary meeting.
(If the answer is no you may want to reschedule. There is no point in meeting with a group having certain individuals who need to catch a plane in 15 minutes. You need to have the undivided attention of the group to succeed.)
“The second thing I would like to confirm is that the purpose of our meeting is to discuss your concerns about the current situation on your number three production line.”
(This may not be what they think the purpose of the meeting is at all. You are better to find out which route you should be taking right from the outset.)
“The third thing I want you to know is that I am not here today to sell you anything. I am here today to gather information about Monolithic’s food line challenges to see IF our company can be of service to you. If after asking you some questions I feel there is no legitimate reason to buy from my company I won’t invent one.”
(This is the point where you have begun to distance yourself from your competition. You can feel the tension in the air starting to drop. Group members are beginning to relax but are still waiting for you to start the “Dog and Pony Show PowerPoint Extravaganza” sales spiel.
“The last points I want to make to the group are these. I will be going around the boardroom table and asking each person a short list of questions. In order for this to be truly effective I’d like to request that nobody interrupt. If a question arises when listening to another please write it down and ask me at the end of the session. The other thing I’d like to add is that you should feel free to talk about the challenges we’re facing. I will be taking notes about what each of you say.”
(At this point you can feel the whole room relax. You’ve set the stage so that everyone in the room knows their individual opinions and values will be respected. For many group members this will be the first time they’ve been listened to. Oftentimes, the same few individuals by virtue of sarcasm, rank, or need for attention dominate many group meetings.)
Now you’re ready to start asking questions.
In the next issue I’ll tell you how to effortlessly identify the key players.
