An Abrasive Tale

Some of you have heard this one before...

It was my first big consulting sales call. When someone brought in a big new client, our office would ring a big ship's bell to celebrate. I was at the stage in my career when I wanted that honor, could taste it. For whom the bell tolls; my turn.

My boss insisted on attending with me, which I mildly resented, but he said he'd sit to the side and let me run the meeting. Whatever.

The client was an abrasives company – grinding wheels and sandpaper. The meeting was with the VP of marketing for sandpaper. It opened with the usual pleasantries – the pouring of coffee, exchanging of business cards, mumbled nothings about the weather.

And then the client leaned towards me, elbows on the table, fixed his gaze on me and said, "Tell me, Mr. Green, what experience do you have doing marketing studies for industrial consumables?"

A deer-in-the-headlights moment. I felt confident for an instant, having decoded "industrial consumables" as fancy talk for sandpaper. But then I realized – I had zero experience in that area, and probably nobody in my firm had any either.? My dreams of ringing the bell were fading rapidly. What to say?

I quickly rehearsed in my mind variations on "Well, not exactly, but weve done lots of similar studies..."? It felt like I was punting, but decided to go with it. And just then my boss leaned in.

"None that I can think of," he said definitively, and then paused. "What else would be useful to talk about?"

My boss has gone daft, I thought. I didn't know much about sales, but I was pretty sure you weren't supposed to profess complete ignorance. Yet I was even more surprised by the client's reaction.

He leaned back in his chair, folded his hands behind his neck, and laughed. "Shoot, hardly anybody's done sandpaper marketing, guys. What else have you done that might be relevant?" And I realized that then I could say everything I had been going to say – but with a world of difference, since he had asked for it.

That story stuck with me. I ended up using it as my go-to story to open keynote speeches. I think the "oh I am such a schlub" tone of it helped to personalize me in front of an audience.

But what it taught me was more important. It showed me the power of speaking the unvarnished truth. Of being transparent. Of not falling to the temptation to bend the facts for the sake of a transactional sale. Of putting serious relationships ahead of perceived self-interest. Of playing the long game. Of credibility being established not by burnishing our credentials, but by demonstrating the courage to answer direct questions directly.

We got the sale, the bell did ring for me (though I knew I'd had some help), and I got a few lessons to remember.

Quick Wisdom Quip: Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.? ?

Practical Tip:? When asked a question, answer it, don't try to massage the question.