Selling to Bono

It had been a long, arduous two weeks of airports, limos, meetings, training sessions, and public speaking throughout central Europe. I was utterly exhausted. In spite of my body running on empty, I was excited that it was Friday afternoon. I was scheduled to fly to Greece’s Mykonos Island for some fun in the sun, good food, and general relaxation with my brother. After all, how often are we both in Europe at the same time for business reasons? Not so much!

I was on my way to the airport in Brussels with Heaven on my mind and then came the dreaded phone call. My brother dropped the bomb on me. As Chief Revenue Officer for a publicly traded software company, he had a multi-million dollar deal on the line with a large bank based in Amsterdam. His CEO ordered him to stay in Amsterdam as long as necessary to get the deal. Translation: "Don’t come home until the deal is signed. Camp out on the dude’s doorstep. Don’t take no for an answer. We need this $6.5 million dollar deal to boost our stock." CEO talk. You get the picture.

I thought about forging ahead to Mykonos on my own. After all, Keith Richards is rumored to hang out there often. As a hard core Rolling Stones fan, the idea of even remotely spotting Keith Richards, rock’s ultimate Bad Boy, was intriguing to say the least. Notwithstanding I didn’t have it in me to abandon my brother, and little did I know that a much more prominent rock icon would emerge in my presence in Amsterdam.

Leidseplen Square, Amsterdam

Alas, I boarded a high-speed train from Brussels to Amsterdam and arrived safely. I always enjoy warm, summer nights in Amsterdam, but this particular night I was simply worn-out. I wanted three things prior to lights out and bedtime: (i) my hotel room, (ii) privacy, and (iii) and a cold beverage. I arrived at the 5-star hotel in Leidseplein Square that my brother’s executive assistant had organized for us. Within 3 minutes of hotel check-in my head hit the pillow and I was out like a lamp.  About an hour later, the phone rang. It was my brother suggesting that we go out and yuck it up in Amsterdam. Let’s face it, Leidseplein Square is one of Amsterdam's popular centers for nightlife with theaters, cafes, restaurants, cinemas, the casino, and more. Street musicians, jugglers, fire-eaters and other performers make the square a lively place until the early hours, especially on a warm summer evening. I was not tempted to enter into the nightlife, however. I was simply exhausted from the events of the week. I finally decided that visiting the lounge would be the quickest route to food and drink, and I would fulfill my brotherly duties to hook up for a short time and then head back to my room for some needed rest. After all, we had the balance of the weekend for seeing the sights and yucking it up. I spruced myself up, splashed on some cologne and made my way down to the lounge. Little did I know that I was in for the experience of a lifetime.

Here’s what happened: While catching up with my brother and sipping on my beverage, I heard some commotion near the entrance of the lounge where we were relaxing. I looked over to see what was happening. Were my eyes deceiving me? I had to do a double take. It was true. In walked Bono. Yes, Bono, as in U2’s front man. Yes, Bono, as in the greatest rock performer in history. In a word, I was overwhelmed.

After pinching myself and realizing this was not a dream, my brother and I experienced some serious laughter watching what happened over the next 30 minutes or so. Every time someone new walked into the lounge and realized that Bono was “in the house”, they would approach him for an autograph or something similar. Each time that happened, Bono’s embedded bodyguard would emerge out of nowhere and explain to his autograph seekers that Bono is not feeling well and is not available for fan club time at this moment. We really chuckled as we watched the varying approaches utilized by these groupies:

• The intelligent groupie would simple say something like, “Hey Bono, I’ve been a big fan for 10 years. How about an autograph?” Enter body guard who politely but firmly stops the groupie in his tracks
• The stoner groupie who probably just visited the Bulldog Café would say something like, “Hey Bono. D-u-u-u-de! When you wrote that song ‘Where the Streets Have No Name’ was it, like a re-e-e-e-ligious experience d-u-u-ude..?” Enter body guard who maintains politeness but makes it clear that the stoner is about to be smacked down if he doesn’t leave the premises NOW!

Let’s face it, Bono is one of the most in-demand persons on the planet. If he wants some down time, he deserves it.

After a few cold beverages Karry started a debate about who would have the greater legacy, the Beatles or U2. We debated the point for a while and then switched to arguing over which U2 album was the best.

Painful as it was, people continued to approach Bono's table over and over again without ever catching Bono’s attention, only to be escorted away by a member of his entourage. I was laughing at the utter hopelessness of the attempts when Karry made a wager.

“Kraig, you claim in your sales transformation practice to be able to win  meetings with all sorts of global heads of business and C-Level executives, right?” He asked.

“Yes. When leading with fact-based research and appealing to your target buyers’ professional mandates, it works with an amazing conversion rate yield every time.”

“Right,” he replied politely but with some reserved skepticism.

“Well,” he continued, “I bet you can’t get a fifteen minute meeting with Bono right now.” 

“Karry, don’t be ridiculous. Where have you been for the last thirty minutes? Bono is not interested in meeting with anyone right now.”

“I thought you said your system works every time. Are you saying it can’t work now?  I mean you're approximately 20 feet from BONO dude.  Win a meeting now!” He was trying to get at me and it was working.

“Alright,” I said defensively, “What should we bet?”

“If you can get a meeting with Bono, right now that lasts more than 3 minutes, I will pay for your hotel and all your expenses for the weekend. If you can’t you pay for mine.”  

This was the sort of reckless brotherly competition that had characterized our relationship since we were young boys. I knew from past experience that I had no choice on the matter. I either had to accept the challenge or concede failure. The expenses would no doubt be in the multiples of thousands of dollars for the weekend, as we were staying at a rockstar, 5-star hotel and we were planning to hit the coolest restaurants and clubs in Amsterdam, not to mention the scheduled private car to take us to all of the historical museums on Saturday. There was no way I was going to back down from this challenge.

Karry Kleeman in red jacket on my right

I needed a strategy. I knew that unless I had something different than these other groupies  I was going to end up receiving the same patronizing look I had been giving to everyone else who failed. And then it hit me. I already have a proven strategy.  One of the core principles of my selling methodology, The Must-React System, is to take yourself out of the sales process. You have to remove yourself from the normal noise that your target is always hearing.

The best way to do that is by tapping into the core values / professional mandates of your target buyer with whom you want to win a meeting. After winning the meeting, well equipped sellers are empowered to navigate a highly charged, fact-based research presentation that is centered in topics, trends, metrics, and outcomes. In fact, I learned early in my practice that this is the most pivotal principle in mastering the enterprise sale. I began to ponder the obvious question: What is of core importance to Bono? What are his personal and professional mandates? Being a long-time fan of U2, and having admired Bono’s personal life, I queried myself regarding Bono’s passions, life goals, etc. I decided that it would not be a good idea to approach him on the basis of his music, since he gets approached dozens of times daily on that topic. My mind harkened back to articles I have read in the past about his deliberate involvement in a variety of humanitarian efforts which includes fighting AIDS and other social issues that plague underdeveloped nations and underprivileged people groups. I recalled that Bono had visited the White House, donated extraordinary amounts of money, and articulated his views on a number of TV news shows. He has had audiences with heads of state, wealthy entrepreneurs, and the most famous of the famous people on earth. I recall reading some of his public speeches where he described himself as a voice for “defending the poor of the earth.”

After some thought, I decided that my only chance at getting a meeting with Bono was no different than getting a meeting with a senior executive at any global 2000 company: I had to appeal to a topic that is absolutely core to his thinking! Bono is an amazing musician. He knows it and everyone tells him that. But what he cares about, what keeps him up at night, is his compassion for the poor and hurting throughout the world. 

I geared myself up for one shot to grab his attention on an issue that mattered.

“Hey Bono!” I shouted over to the bar.

His face looked my way.

“I want you to know how much I admire the way you defend the poor of the earth.”  

His ears now perked up!  In fact, his countenance beamed angelically.

I continued, “I once was on the board of directors for an outreach to abandoned children in South America and I understand how painfully difficult it is to get individuals from our modernized world to understand the plight of lesser developed nations and lesser privileged people groups!”

I lifted my drink and continued.

“And I just want to toast you for your steadfast commitment to defending the poor of the earth!”

From approximately twenty feet away Bono lifted his cup in a toast with me.

At first, that was it. Nothing happened right away so I sat down and began to think about how Karry was going to spend the rest of the weekend spending my money and rubbing my failure in my face. But then I noticed that Bono was talking to a member of his entourage. The man came over and told told me that Bono would like to invite me to his table for a cold beverage!

I ended up talking with him for approximately an hour. We discussed how his passion for charitable work originated, recent news, and a new campaign for AIDS prevention in Africa and China. We were able to discuss a variety of topics that would have never been possible had I not been invited to his table. This is called Leading with Fact-Based Research and Appealing to Your Target Buyers’ Professional Mandates in sales methodology phraseology. But never once did either of us speak a word about music. It was all about his interests in bringing genuine assistance to the “poor of the earth.”

Why did Bono meet with me, even though many others had tried to meet with him in that moment? Why did he accept my request? Mostly because I did not approach him on the same basis that everyone else approaches him, which is “as a fan of his music”. Rather, I approached him on the basis of what is ABSOLUTELY CORE to his personal and professional mandates. People are much more inclined to discuss topics near and dear to their hearts, than they are to discuss sterile, innocuously boring topics. And while Bono has an astonishing track record of creating amazing music mixed with powerful lyrics, this is not not the topic where his heart is most tightly bound. His heart is bound up in organizing humanitarian relief for people groups, nations, and the poor of the earth.

The number one problem with most sales people is that they are too self-centered. This isn’t a moral critique it’s a professional one. Sales people grab onto a great story or benefit of their product and they insist on telling it to their customers and prospects. Even if the prospect is obviously not interested, many sales people will continue to blunder their way through the same canned phrases and glory stories until the client leaves or hangs up. They don’t take the time to understand how and why their client would be interested in this information.

As true as that is, the top decision makers in sales and marketing organizations are even worse. They are completely infatuated with their products’ abilities and the customer list that they have. They have the feeling that just because they have been able to convince other large companies to purchase their solution everyone else should just flock to them instinctively. They produce flashy, glossy, product centric e-mail blasts and marketing collateral. So much of this effort is devoted to a keeping up with the Jones’s mentality. If my competitor’s product can go fast, mine can go faster. This type of prospecting is the equivalent of the rejected groupies in the bar with Bono. Buyers are initially less interested in what your product does. They are interested in outcomes, not features.

The power of persuasion depends entirely on your sales organization’s ability to understand  your prospective clients’ core values / professional mandates. If you cannot define this and appeal to them based upon an authentic understanding, your conversion rates and revenue capture rates will suffer.   And suffer much. Bono is a rock star but his core value was ‘defending the poor of the earth’. Since thousands of fans across the world have praised him for his music, it would be foolish for me to lump myself in with the thousands of other ‘fans’. Instead, by appealing to one of the deepest issues of Bono’s concern, I became perceived as a fellow solider in his battle against world poverty. I wasn’t one of thousands I was someone who understood what really matters.  The entire experience was the real thing.  Even better than the real thing!

About Kraig Kleeman

• Kraig is the author, inventor, and originator of The Must-React System, the world's leading sales development methodology
• Kraig is founder & host of KraigKleemanTV, the world's most 
  powerful sales enablement and personal motivation YouTube Channel
  
• Kraig is the The World's Greatest Cold Caller