An employee from the company I consult for called me and asked a few questions, the answers to which I want to share here, as the feasibility of the recommendations has already been tested in practice. Here are three examples of how to turn a completely hopeless situation to your advantage.
Question number 1.What to do when a meeting ends up being unproductive because you realize you’re speaking with a hired manager, while the decision-maker is the founder who is in another country and arranging a meeting with them is very difficult?
— make sure that the mercenary likes the solution you are offering and wants it.
— take his side and ask how the founders usually make decisions and what materials they need for that.
— or ask the mercenary what he will tell the founders about your proposal, which aspects he will focus on, and suggest preparing a presentation that will be shown to the founders on behalf of the mercenary. The meeting should end with progress.
— suggest to the contractor to help him explain the product to his founders, to ensure that the founder receives complete information, and to request organizing a conference call with the contractor and the founder.
Question number 2.What to do if I traveled 200 km to meet a farmer, but he just disappeared, forgetting about our appointment, and I only found out about it when I called him from the location?
— confirm the meeting. You should confirm it not directly, like “will you be there, I will come,” but rather by asking a question related to the meeting: “Ivan Ivanovich, we agreed to meet today, could you please let me know the best way to get to you?”
In a phone conversation, since it turned out this way, don’t blame the client. Express hope for a future meeting (yeah, right) and ask for help. Since you traveled so far for that meeting, could he suggest someone in his area you could also talk to? As a result, instead of one meeting, there might be three.
Question number 3.The client gives recommendations but asks not to be referenced, as he is afraid of that.
— We really don’t need a “cold” contact. We’re actually aware that Alla Pugacheva could be a potential client for, umm… an exclusive spa resort by the Dead Sea, but we won’t be calling her from the address book, right?
— Tell the client the following: You know, just like you, I value my reputation very much, and if you think that the person I recommended wouldn’t be entirely happy to receive my call, then I’d rather not call at all. So, may I ask you to call this person back and ask for permission for me to reach out? Just say: “I’m talking to a very knowledgeable salesperson who specializes in ______. I thought you might be interested in meeting with him, but I don’t want to give him your number without your permission. Would it be okay for him to call you?” If he declines, at least he’ll know that you’re an honest person who doesn’t just share phone numbers. And if he agrees, he’ll see you as someone whose opinion is worth considering.