Published The inquiry promised to be the largest and most complicated sale that
she had ever attempted. Suzie was called directly by the President and the COO of a startup company that needed
the type of services her company offered; he wanted to meet with her. At the meeting she asked all
the right questions; they talked, she listened and took notes.
It wasn't until Suzie was debriefing the call afterwards that she
realized what she had done. She didn't have clear answers; their buying
criteria was unclear; there was no decision; barely even a "think it
over".
"This is not good", she said to me on the phone. "I think I've blown it
and I don't know what to do."
"Yes, Suzie, you just might have blown it," I said. (I don't like
sugarcoating the truth.) "And you've put a lot of pressure on
yourself." I suggested it might be time for .... the Vilbig Maneuver.
The Vilbig Maneuver is something we named many years ago when I made one of my first sales calls for the sales training company where I worked.
It is not for the faint of heart. I was presenting to a professional
named Vilbig who really needed our services. He told me he needed to
think it over because his wife had just left the office and he couldn't
make any decisions without her OK.
And I accepted that.
Now I was a smart guy with lots of sales experience and making a rookie
mistake like that just chapped me to no end. When I got back to my
office I called him on the phone and said "Mr. Vilbig, that was one of
the worst sales calls I have ever seen and I think you deserve better.
You need to invite me back in and I will show you how it's supposed to
be done." Which he did. I did it right this time. Result: my first
sale for the company and a happy client
So Suzie had to call her prospect back and tell him she had done it
wrong and he needed to invite her back to do it right. Which he did. So
she was back in the sale. This was good. On this call she got very
clear on the criteria needed to close the deal and when she left she had
a specific contract to come back and do a presentation and the decision
(either a yes or a no) that would be made when she did so. This too was
good.
The next day Suzie got a call from the prospect telling her she was in
the top three but he had decided to go with someone he knew from before.
Not good, but at least she had been a contender.
The following day she got *another* call from the prospect telling her
that he didn't like his first choice's policies or pricing and could she
please proceed with the proposal. She was back in the game.
She confirmed that they had a very strong contract about what was to
happen if she gave him a proposal he liked, etc. and she set about
creating the proposal. Then the phone rang. Funding had fallen
through, there were some international lawsuits that had come up and the
whole project was on indefinite hold.
Sigh. Slow shaking of head.
I asked Suzie what she had learned. Here is her list.
Suzie told me afterwards that she now has the same feeling she had when
she was playing high school basketball in her senior year. She had
finally made first string and was playing in the last game of the
season. She played her best game ever, but then fouled out. It was a
tight contest and the other team edged them out in the last few seconds.
Her team had lost. But she still knew she was a winner because she
had played at a new level, a level where she had never played before.
Suzie may have lost this one round but she's got a whole new game now.
February 20 ,2002
Play Your Own Game
JUMProductions
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arlington, tx 76004
vox 817.261.2108 fax 801.881.2717
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