Smash the Window!

It was 7 am when I opened my office door and saw my boss sitting at my desk. He had just two words for me…

The day before had not gone that well. First, I was late meeting my local rep, Bill, for breakfast. We choked down a few eggs and waited so long for the check that I thought the waitress had gone home. Finally, I tossed my briefcase in the back of Bill’s SUV and we headed out towards the IBM plant. You’ve been there, so you know what happened next. Whenever you are late, the traffic is unusually bad. As I stared straight ahead, Bill, who had only been representing us for 6 weeks, was trying hard not to ruin the day by jumping down my throat. Finally, we reached the visitors lot with 10 minutes to spare. We both knew the 4 engineers and two buyers, who had reluctantly agreed to see us, had no patience for lateness. As I jumped out of the Jeep, I hit the electric door lock and ran to the back gate to get my briefcase. Bill said, “Did you just lock the doors?”

Ok, so I’m an idiot. But how was I to know that in Texas they don’t lock their cars and they leave their keys on the floor mat! With 8 minutes left to get to the meeting and my presentation locked in the SUV, I flagged down the security truck. I was hoping he had one of those metal straps that cops and chop-shops use to get into cars in a nanosecond. No such luck. All he had was a tire iron.

The next few second seemed like slow motion to me. I grabbed the tire iron and, in one fluid motion, I smashed the back window, grabbed my briefcase and returned the tool to the security truck. Bill looked like… he looked like a guy who had just seen his brand new expensive toy vandalized in front of his very eyes. I just started walking to the main building. Quickly!

This stuff happens. If you’ve spent any time in the field as a sales rep you have suffered through a disaster or two yourself. (by the way, I’d love to hear about yours if you care to send them to me. Let me know if I can share them.)

I’m no psychologist, but I’m told that Dr. Phil, Dr. Laura and Oprah all give the same advice: They say, “It’s not what happens to you that matters, it’s what you do about it.” So what’s the plan? For me it’s a 5 step process that we can apply to our sales lives and beyond.

First, anticipate potential problems early. Whether it’s the possibility of the demo crashing, four extra people showing up for the meeting, or a traffic delay on the Long Island Expressway, it’s our job to plan ahead. Have breakfast near the client’s site rather than at the hotel. Leave extra time for traffic. Double check the demo system the night before. You’ll know what to do if you think about it.

Second, have a plan B. This is especially true for the two T’s: Travel and Technology. Neither can be predicted with certainty. I remember Windows 98 crashing during Bill Gates' demo at Comdex, do you? And who among us hasn’t missed a flight due to weather or the mysterious ‘mechanical’ delays? Bring a spare system for the demo. Have someone else who can give the presentation (send the slides ahead via email).

Third, panic early, is my favorite step. Don’t wait until you are standing there in a flop-sweat to decide what to do. When everyone is in the room and the demo system is clearly not having a good day, move to your screen shots in PowerPoint or call the whole thing off and reschedule. Better that than having your team looking like the Three Stooges in front of the client.

Fourth: If all else does fail, fail with grace. Keep your sense of humor, respect others time and move on. If you anticipated this situation, it’s easier to be cool, or at least fake it.

Finally, remember that the world works on the Law of Positive Negatives. In other words, the world likes those who recover well. I’ve seen presenters who forgot their lines, get a standing ovation for the way they handled it. I’ve seen customers award contracts to sales people after they recovered well from a disastrous demonstration. Why? Because we are all human and we connect with people who are real; like us!

The big thing to avoid is getting trapped in the Blame Game. That’s where we blame everyone else for the situation and take no ownership. Whenever you do, you’ll find yourself locked in a fight and rapidly moving further from a solution. That’s why I wrote my most popular book, Ending the Blame Game. I had had it up to my ears with sales people whining about the factory did this or my manager did that. Who cares? Not me. Not the client. Certainly not your boss. The sooner we accept the blame, the sooner we see ourselves as the solution. In the end, it doesn’t matter whose fault it is. All that matters is who is going to fix it.

About my boss… He was sitting there in my chair at 7 am to tell me two words: We won! The buyer had faxed the order in the night before, after I was already on the plane home. I was lucky, but I had learned a lesson that I will always remember.

BTW, Bill never charged me for the car window. I guess he figured that his $10,000 commission on the deal covered it.

For a free copy of "How to Leave a Voice Mail That Gets Results", please email article20@waterhousegroup.com and ask for article #20

Stephen Waterhouse is Principal and Founder of Waterhouse Group. They specialize in helping companies increase their sales and profits. He can be reached at 1-800-57-LEARN or steve@waterhousegroup.com.

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