The Worst Sales Call Ever
Author's Note: This post originally appeared on my blog in January of this year. Since it has never been on this site and many of you have not seen it, I thought that re-publishing it would be a good idea. When you get a chance, send me a comment about the worst sales call you've ever made so I'm not the only one making a fool of myself on the internet!
Comeupance. That's the word that comes to mind. Like a karmic shot to the solar plexus. The kind that knocks all the wind out of you, leaving you doubled over and unable to speak. That's what I got one beautiful Winter day in 1996 - a comeupance.
I was the Director of Olympic Sales for The Official Olympic Information Radio Station. Chances are that you didn't know there was such a thing as The Official Olympic Information Radio Station because chances are that our radio station was the first and only one to be so designated. This was supposed to mean that the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games would favor us with exclusive access to Olympic athletes and information. We would then package these nuggets of fascination into vignettes and then sell sponsorship to the vignettes and other Olympic news. What it really meant was that we were the only radio station willing to fork over money to be designated as The Official Olympic Information Radio Station. Since the station had forked over the money and now needed a return on its investment, I was hired to direct the efforts of the sales team. That is how I became the only Director of Olympic Sales at a radio station in the history of the Olympics - which dates back a couple of thousand years, you know.
Pretty special I was and on that Winter day in early 1996, my specialness was about to pay off because I had an appointment with the V. P. of Media at one of Atlanta's biggest advertising agencies. This big agency represented one of the biggest local sponsors of the Olympic Games and I was headed in there to make a presentation regarding sponsorship opportunities on The Official Olympic Information Radio Station. By my side was the #1 biller at our radio station. We'll call her Dee.
Dee had the relationship with the agency and she had worked long and hard at my request to get us an appointment. On the day of the appointment, she came by my desk and said, "Ready?".
I was ready. I had a 30-slide Powerpoint presentation. As everyone knows, a Powerpoint presentation is the key to all sales. (My understanding is that Powerpoint is so powerful that President Bush used it to sell the Iraq war to Congress.) My Powerpoint presentation had shiny graphics, cool fades both in and out and it even had music. Totally freakin' cool.
On the way up the elevator to the penthouse suite, Dee says to me, "What role would you like me to play in the presentation?"
A reasonable question from the #1 biller at the radio station. After all, she had about $4 billion dollars worth of revenue on the books, knew everything there was to know about our radio station and the Olympic programs and had the relationship with the agency.
"When you see an opportunity to jump in, just be ready to support my position with some sort of joyful agreement," I said.
"Okay." But, it wasn't really an "okay" as in "sounds good". It was an "okay" where the "o" is separated from the "kay" and the "o" is said in a higher pitch than the "kay". Kind of in "that sounds like a foolish plan from a foolish man".
We are ushered into a fabulous corner office with a spectacular view of the Olympic city. After a few niceties we settled into chairs. Well, I sat on a chair on one side of a coffee table while Dee and The Client sat on a couch on the other side.
I said, "Thanks for agreeing to meet with us. I have prepared a presentation to familiarize you with our Olympic features and then would like to discuss ways to customize our assets into a program that helps your client activate their Olympic sponsorship on a local level."
"Sounds good."
So, I break out my laptop and notice that I have forgotten my cord. Slight concern but I know that I have two hours of battery power and the Powerpoint shouldn't take longer than thirty minutes.
Someone forget to tell the laptop, though, and it went blank on the third slide.
There would be no shiny graphics.
No fades in or out.
No music.
I rummaged around in my computer bag and pulled out a pamphlet that the radio station had printed. This showed all the elements of our programs. I decided to explain each program element.
One of our cooler elements were vignettes that were produced by a reporter named Ed Hula. Ed used to be a network radio reporter or something like that until he decided to follow the Olympic games exclusively. The primary way that he made money was selling subscriptions to his Olympic Newsletter. His audio vignettes aired exclusively on our station.
So, I was going on about Ed Hula and how cool he was and how he had become well-known for his Olympic coverage.
"In fact, there is a picture of him with Juan Antonio Samaranch (the head honcho of the Internation Olympic Committee) on our brochure."
Dee and the client said together, "Where?"
"Right there on the back of the brochure."
Dee leaned over to look at the client's brochure and said, "That's not Ed Hula, that is Billy Payne (local lawyer who had practically singlehandedly brought the Olympics to Atlanta)."
Perhaps, I blacked out. I'm not sure. The next thing I remember is me and Dee back in the elevator - heading down.
Dee looks at my reflection on the mirrored walls of the elevator doors and says, "That went well."
I would have answered but I was having trouble breathing.
Lessons learned:
1) Be prepared. Many of us walk out the door with our shirttails hanging out and our ties in a loop around our necks. We don't have respect for deadlines and assume we can wing it if something goes wrong. C'mon. We're better than that. Let's resolve to be 100% ready to leave at least 30 minutes before necessary so we can double check things like laptop cords.
2) Be intimately familiar with your presentation materials. How is it possible to think that a picture of Billy Payne is one of Ed Hula? Maybe because I hadn't read the caption under the picture. Maybe because I had never asked anyone. Maybe because I was an arrogant fool.
3) Assume your technology is not going to work. We should have had a second laptop and the presentation should have been burned on a disk. The presentation should have been printed!
4) Get your team on the same page. Dee really didn't mind that I had failed because she wasn't a part of the presentation from the beginning. Ridiculous! She was the expert - not me. I should have put her in the spotlight and been happy to play a supporting role. That's what sales manager are for - support of sales people.
Well, it was a long time ago and I am a better seller and sales manager for having experienced it. Now, it's time for you to share a story and the lessons learned. Click on "comments" below and let us know your worst sales call.
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Comeupance. That's the word that comes to mind. Like a karmic shot to the solar plexus. The kind that knocks all the wind out of you, leaving you doubled over and unable to speak. That's what I got one beautiful Winter day in 1996 - a comeupance.
I was the Director of Olympic Sales for The Official Olympic Information Radio Station. Chances are that you didn't know there was such a thing as The Official Olympic Information Radio Station because chances are that our radio station was the first and only one to be so designated. This was supposed to mean that the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games would favor us with exclusive access to Olympic athletes and information. We would then package these nuggets of fascination into vignettes and then sell sponsorship to the vignettes and other Olympic news. What it really meant was that we were the only radio station willing to fork over money to be designated as The Official Olympic Information Radio Station. Since the station had forked over the money and now needed a return on its investment, I was hired to direct the efforts of the sales team. That is how I became the only Director of Olympic Sales at a radio station in the history of the Olympics - which dates back a couple of thousand years, you know.
Pretty special I was and on that Winter day in early 1996, my specialness was about to pay off because I had an appointment with the V. P. of Media at one of Atlanta's biggest advertising agencies. This big agency represented one of the biggest local sponsors of the Olympic Games and I was headed in there to make a presentation regarding sponsorship opportunities on The Official Olympic Information Radio Station. By my side was the #1 biller at our radio station. We'll call her Dee.
Dee had the relationship with the agency and she had worked long and hard at my request to get us an appointment. On the day of the appointment, she came by my desk and said, "Ready?".
I was ready. I had a 30-slide Powerpoint presentation. As everyone knows, a Powerpoint presentation is the key to all sales. (My understanding is that Powerpoint is so powerful that President Bush used it to sell the Iraq war to Congress.) My Powerpoint presentation had shiny graphics, cool fades both in and out and it even had music. Totally freakin' cool.
On the way up the elevator to the penthouse suite, Dee says to me, "What role would you like me to play in the presentation?"
A reasonable question from the #1 biller at the radio station. After all, she had about $4 billion dollars worth of revenue on the books, knew everything there was to know about our radio station and the Olympic programs and had the relationship with the agency.
"When you see an opportunity to jump in, just be ready to support my position with some sort of joyful agreement," I said.
"Okay." But, it wasn't really an "okay" as in "sounds good". It was an "okay" where the "o" is separated from the "kay" and the "o" is said in a higher pitch than the "kay". Kind of in "that sounds like a foolish plan from a foolish man".
We are ushered into a fabulous corner office with a spectacular view of the Olympic city. After a few niceties we settled into chairs. Well, I sat on a chair on one side of a coffee table while Dee and The Client sat on a couch on the other side.
I said, "Thanks for agreeing to meet with us. I have prepared a presentation to familiarize you with our Olympic features and then would like to discuss ways to customize our assets into a program that helps your client activate their Olympic sponsorship on a local level."
"Sounds good."
So, I break out my laptop and notice that I have forgotten my cord. Slight concern but I know that I have two hours of battery power and the Powerpoint shouldn't take longer than thirty minutes.
Someone forget to tell the laptop, though, and it went blank on the third slide.
There would be no shiny graphics.
No fades in or out.
No music.
I rummaged around in my computer bag and pulled out a pamphlet that the radio station had printed. This showed all the elements of our programs. I decided to explain each program element.
One of our cooler elements were vignettes that were produced by a reporter named Ed Hula. Ed used to be a network radio reporter or something like that until he decided to follow the Olympic games exclusively. The primary way that he made money was selling subscriptions to his Olympic Newsletter. His audio vignettes aired exclusively on our station.
So, I was going on about Ed Hula and how cool he was and how he had become well-known for his Olympic coverage.
"In fact, there is a picture of him with Juan Antonio Samaranch (the head honcho of the Internation Olympic Committee) on our brochure."
Dee and the client said together, "Where?"
"Right there on the back of the brochure."
Dee leaned over to look at the client's brochure and said, "That's not Ed Hula, that is Billy Payne (local lawyer who had practically singlehandedly brought the Olympics to Atlanta)."
Perhaps, I blacked out. I'm not sure. The next thing I remember is me and Dee back in the elevator - heading down.
Dee looks at my reflection on the mirrored walls of the elevator doors and says, "That went well."
I would have answered but I was having trouble breathing.
Lessons learned:
1) Be prepared. Many of us walk out the door with our shirttails hanging out and our ties in a loop around our necks. We don't have respect for deadlines and assume we can wing it if something goes wrong. C'mon. We're better than that. Let's resolve to be 100% ready to leave at least 30 minutes before necessary so we can double check things like laptop cords.
2) Be intimately familiar with your presentation materials. How is it possible to think that a picture of Billy Payne is one of Ed Hula? Maybe because I hadn't read the caption under the picture. Maybe because I had never asked anyone. Maybe because I was an arrogant fool.
3) Assume your technology is not going to work. We should have had a second laptop and the presentation should have been burned on a disk. The presentation should have been printed!
4) Get your team on the same page. Dee really didn't mind that I had failed because she wasn't a part of the presentation from the beginning. Ridiculous! She was the expert - not me. I should have put her in the spotlight and been happy to play a supporting role. That's what sales manager are for - support of sales people.
Well, it was a long time ago and I am a better seller and sales manager for having experienced it. Now, it's time for you to share a story and the lessons learned. Click on "comments" below and let us know your worst sales call.
.>
>.
This is a great story and thanks for sharing. Our failures are what make us change for the better (hopefully).
Many years ago, I was on a cold call with someone for an hour and a half and the prospect argued and harangued me for ages, baiting me at every opportunity. I didn't realise that he never intended to buy, but just wanted some entertainment. Lesson learned - even the sales people has the right to walk away and not be treated in a particular way. Even if I had won the sale, I wouldn't have enjoyed it - that was my worst sales call ever.
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Tim - I laughed and groaned with sympathy in equal measure at your story.
Ian
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Tim,
What a great story... I can't say I have ever had a call go that bad, but I am taking away some powerful lessons. always cary a backup of that presentation on a flashdrive and on paper. I also hate to say it but I am probably FAR to confident in my ability to "fly by the seat of my pants". For the next few weeks I am going to focus on being "over prepared."
Thanks for sharing!
-Brad
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That was an inspiring post,
It kinda sounds like the presentation from hell,
But at least you learnt from all of this,
Keep up the good work
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