Calling on a Fat Man
When cell phones were new and becoming a big deal for the average person in the early 1990’s and no longer the toys of the ultra wealthy and movie stars there was a man named Vince who owned a large cellular company in a major metro. He stared out like every one, with very little and did the right tings and caught the wave at the exactly perfect time. Vince was 5’10” and easily went 350 pounds he joked about his own size and weight with everyone stating that he liked food so much that he wore pants with elastic in the waist band so he could eat a big lunch. This tale isn’t one about Vince’s sales abilities but about an office furniture salesperson. Who called on Vince over and over but couldn’t get past his admin. Vince was far too busy during prime time selling hours to talk to sales people that were not important to growing his business.
Over time the office supply rep learned that Vince came in early and stayed late almost every day, he also learned that his favorite food was pizza and his favorite pizza shop was 25 minutes away and he didn’t get to have pizza from there that often. So how to crack the armor? He learned from calling on others about the company’s expansion plans, they were an office furniture company’s dream. He learned what the number of staff and conference room was and the planned color scheme. The rep knew who made what decisions but that Vince approved them all.
One Tuesday night the Offices furniture rep showed up with two large Pizzas’, Vincent wasn’t there that night. His Plan was foiled so he put a call in and found out that that Thursday was Vincent’s late night with out fail. So on Thursday he showed up again with two large pizza’s and knocked on the front door. No one answers so he walked around the building saw Vince in his office and knocked on the window. Vince looked up and the rep yelled “Pizza!” To use Vincent’s own words “I’m a fat guy and I love that pizza” the end of the story goes like this, He couldn’t get the appointment so he took some time to be creative about getting in the door. The rep had already established himself in other parts of the organization but just couldn’t get to the top. The only thing it took to get there was $40’s worth a Pizza a little after hours work and the courage to try something different. Oh he did get the sale, it wasn’t at a premium but it was for all of the locations that they opened over the next few years. I wonder of the incumbent vendor ever knew what he lost over a few slices of pizza?
TIP: Be organized! Remember your “selling hours” and respect them. Get to your office a little bit early, to get your “chores” out of the way. You should never be doing paperwork when you can be in front of a customer.
