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" I WISH MY BOSS DIDN'T COME WITH ME ON
THE SALES CALL"
Liz was a new account executive just out of training. She was a
recent college graduate and eager to make an impact in her first
sales position. Liz was working in New York City selling temporary
employment services. Since she was new and seeking to build momentum,
she spent the majority of her days cold calling like a fiend to
get appointments.
After making a multitude of calls, she finally got an appointment
with a senior vice president at New York Telephone. She was so excited.
She had been calling him for weeks and couldn't believe that he
actually agreed to meet her. She ran into her boss's office and
told her she got the appointment. Her boss said, "I'm going
to go with you. This could be a major piece of business for us."
On the day of the sales meeting, Liz's boss came to the office
very dressed up. She was going to the theater that evening, and
since she lived in the suburbs, she decided to wear her dressy evening
clothes to work. Liz was surprised by how decked-out her boss was,
but once she explained the circumstances, Liz reluctantly said that
she understood. Being new, she didn't think to question her boss's
judgement regarding what she was wearing, and they proceeded to
go on the sales call together.
The call started out O.K.. Liz and the senior vice president spoke
of how nice it was to finally meet. Liz introduced him to her boss
and the meeting was underway. Unbeknownst to Liz, her boss decided
to run the meeting, causing Liz to feel foolish and a bit insignificant.
As the sales call began to unfold, Liz noticed that the prospect
kept looking at her boss's chest while talking to her. Liz's boss
noticed this too and was getting very annoyed by it.
Finally Liz's boss said, "Is there something on my dress that
is distracting you?"
Liz thought, 'Oh no! This isn't happening.'
The contact said, "No."
Liz's boss decided to make an issue out of the fact that the prospect
was staring at her chest throughout the entire meeting and said,
"Then why throughout this meeting have you been looking me
in the chest instead of in the eyes?"
'Oh my God,' thought Liz as she wished this call would end and
she would be put out of her misery.
The contact finally said, "If you must know, I think your
outfit is a bit risqué for a sales call. All I can notice
is your cleavage."
Liz started to sink down in her chair and thought, 'This call is
really going down hill fast! I can't believe she is doing this to
me. I know I could have gotten the business if I was here on my
own. There goes my commission check.'
Just when Liz thought this meeting couldn't get much worse, her
boss let the guy have it. She started ranting and raving about how
unprofessional he was and that he had had a lot of nerve. All Liz
could think was what a complete disaster the sales call had been
and how much she was hoping it would end soon. Finally, her boss
ended the meeting and stormed out with Liz following her cue. Liz
was so frustrated by the whole meeting she was ready to cry. It
took 20 cold calls to finally get the guy to meet with her and in
a mere 20 minutes all of her hard work seemed to be done for nothing.
Interestingly enough, after several months had past, Liz was able
to smooth things over with the contact and was able to fill some
temp assignments with him.
LESSONS LEARNED
What Liz said she learned form this experience was that if you
are going to go on a sales call, wear business attire. And if there
is an unusual circumstance that causes you to dress other than you
feel you usually would, mention to the person with whom you are
meeting, that you normally don't dress like this and explain why
you are dressed that way that day. Also, if you feel your boss is
doing something that may kill a sale, speak up. (This is easier
said than done.)
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