When the Mood Changed

• A true story that may have just 'tipped the balance' towards a win.

It was make or break: - a multi ￡m supply contact to a major UK Airline was in the balance.

We had done our homework and we knew who our competition were, in particular we knew that the dominant player (and favourite to win the bid as they'd been doing across a number of the competitive bids in the marketplace at that time) had pitched to them earlier the very same day.

We were the afternoon shift, post lunch and they'd travelled from our competitors offices to ours on a dreary Tuesday afternoon on the outskirts of London.

To make matters worse, my boss had called in sick and it was up to me to present the pitch deck. I knew it of course, as i'd helped pull it together, but as I entered the room I sudenly noticed it was way too quiet, and the customer delegates, seven of them, were sitting down with their arms crossed, not chatting with eachother and grimly staring to the front of the conference room with a blank projector screen and me.

So, the mood wasn't good, stern faces with a 'let's get this over with as soon as possible and let's go home' look in their eye's, and a 'you'd better not screw this up' look from my company Chairman and the CEO.

Now at the time I'd gained a little weight and was fumbliing around tring to get my suit jacket done up in advance of the presentation, with no success - I then looked a some of the querious faces in the room who appeared to be fascinated by this and simply said to everyone: - "I know what you're thinking! - why didnt i wear a suit that fits me!?"

It wasn't contrived or planned and my chairman just erupted with laughter, as then did everyone else!

So, what happened? well, apart from a slight embarassment from me, the mood changed and the room instantly felt warm, loose and stabilised. Delegates were talking, looking at eachother and laughing along, smiling.

The presentation went very well, and they witnessed the freedom for me be myself and the support from my company leaders, and the willingness to be Human.

Did that win us the contract? Well, I don't really know, we may have won it in any case, but i do feel that what was then presented was seen through a different lens, not through an 'arms crossed and furrowed brow which I think could have cost us dearly.