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All names & places are fictional…
A bit of background. My business model has been that once I’m contacted to evaluate a sales person or team, I’ll get permission from the company that requested the sales meeting to be at their next sales presentation. Part of my evaluation is obviously that of the sales person and their behaviors and actions, interactions and general demeanor. But I will also interview the company personnel that had requested the sales meeting. I always try to do this to get their perspectives of the sales presentation and team. The goal here is to see if the sales person was able to read the room so to speak and adapt if needed.
This was always to my benefit as I could offer evaluation services for their internal sales teams if asked.
I met Lindsay in Calgary while she was giving a sales presentation for a wind turbine infrastructure project for some major above ground mining companies that had migrated to a mostly electric fleet.
I had been hired to evaluate specifically Lindsay’s sales abilities, but also that of the collective team at the customer site.
She was a great salesperson. She opened with introductions and mentioned that she was a University of Calgary alum and had gotten her Masters at San Diego State University. That shocked me, since I had gotten my degrees from both places as well.
I felt she mentioned that to bring some familiarity to the meeting to let them know that she knows what it’s like to live in Calgary.
After the sales presentation ended, I had interviewed the board members present, and got their overall feelings on how it went, what was exceptional, what needed work, the normal sorts of things. Their feedback was glowing of Lindsay’s presentation and her interactions, knowledge of products and services offered and her ability to answer questions. I also asked about her introductions and how they felt about her being an alum from a local college. Most felt that was somewhat reassuring, however there are a few of what I refer to as elitists that feel that if you didn’t attend their schools, you’re somewhat inferior. They were also quite often energy vampires that drained the room of energy to make sure their ego’s got stroked. Unfortunately, that sort of behavior is very commonplace, especially in larger companies.
There was also the added dynamic of a female sales person being harassed or objectified and that was always something to consider. Some women used that as their sales strengths but almost always at the cost of their personal integrity and quite often that of the company they worked for as well.
Lindsay was a rockstar, she got the sale and rated exceptionally high. There were a few ‘bro’s’ on the Company side that said she looked too good to deny her the sale. I made notes of that behavior as well, both to share with the sales person, but also if I were asked to come back and do evaluations for that company.
She had been warm and engaging. She had a smooth and natural flow to her presentation and wasn’t easily shook with difficult questions. She was exceptionally smart.
As was my practice, I would sit down with the sales person after the evaluation and give them my feedback, including any critique as well as providing a detailed report back to their company, which quite often included a recording of my out-brief with the person being evaluated.
As I sat down with Lindsay, she was warm and personable and we hit it off pretty quickly. I ran through my evaluation and she seemed genuinely appreciative of the feedback and said that it confirmed some of what she had felt during the presentation.
I mentioned that I was also a Calgary and SDSU alum and her eyes got big. “Wow, that’s a pretty interesting coincidence!”
Come to find out we both had business degrees from Calgary, but also had Master’s in Business at SDSU. I shared that I had gotten my Master’s in Communications there as well.
While we were chatting, I mentioned that I was now based out of Knoxville. She said that she was based out of Memphis, which I found interesting as the company was based out of Raleigh.
Overall we had a great meeting and she was receptive to my feedback and seemed to take it to heart. Not all of my customers were so receptive. Some were combative and I always relayed that to the company that hired me. They deserve to know if the employee they asked me to evaluate is simply attempting to placate them or engaging to make themselves better sales people.
Lindsay and I exchanged business cards and I put my personal number on mine and told her to feel free to reach out at any time if she had any questions. She returned the courtesy on her card.
I had left and went back to Knoxville to start on my next assessment and had gotten a call from the company that asked me to evaluate Lindsay. They wanted a full team assessment at a business in Memphis.
I sent them a quote and they accepted it and plans were made. The only person that would know my role would be Lindsay if she gemlik escort remembered me. I was also informally told that she had been coached to not correct the sales team if she remembered me and my role in being there. That made me feel good, but only because I sort of knew her from my last evaluation.
About three months later I’m in Memphis and got to the corporate building and got to meet the company personnel that will be receiving the sales presentation. They were really receptive to my role and to my benefit asked for my business information for potential future work. Happy customers create more happy customers as a general rule.
This presentation went at best, just okay. Some of the younger sales people were doing all of the wrong things. Over promising deliverables to the customer when it was clear they had no idea of what was being asked. Only to have the actual ask, very clearly articulated. They would say something along the lines of “of course, that’s something we do as part of this package.” The obvious issue there is poor expectation management and in my experience that issue alone can get contracts canceled. The worst case I saw was when a team of sales bro’s had over promised capabilities and time on a contract, only in an attempt to later up-sell. That led to litigation that ended badly for the sales team and their company.
This one wasn’t quite that bad, but without some correction, it could eventually get that way. When the presentation was done I asked for some time with the company’s team to see what their thoughts were. I had made my introduction and stated that I had been hired to evaluate the sales team. This team in particular was very engaged and asked me several questions about what I would have felt if I were in their shoes. While I always appreciated questions, asking my opinion on the presentation in that manner always gives me pause. I don’t want to influence their decisions as if I were an insider, so I politely deferred for that reason.
I had made my introduction to the sales team, who I was, who had hired me, and stated that I had been hired to evaluate the sales team. Before I started my feedback, I asked for permission to record the meeting to provide as an artifact to the company that had hired me. Occasionally I could get a person that didn’t want to be recorded and that was fine. I just made note of both the offer, but also who had declined and what their reasons may have been if they told me. Luckily everyone agreed this time. In my out-brief with the vendor’s sales team, the lead salesman was clearly put off by my feedback and even threatened me. I took copious notes of date, time, who was present and so on.
The requesting company ultimately chose to not use the vendor and I also included their feedback in my report.
Lindsay sat back and watched it unfold. I had a suspicion that there may have been some rivalry between her and some of the sales team. She clearly had a smirk on her face as I ended the evaluation. I walked around and shook the hand of everyone on the sales team, but the person I had reviewed would have no part of it and subtly threatened me again. I was polite and wished him the best and left the building. I was down stairs in my truck completing my report, getting ready to leave and head back home when I got a call from Lindsay.
“Hi Ken, Lindsay here. Have you left yet?”
“Hey, good to hear from you. You caught me just in time. I’m in my truck. How can I help?”
“We are in a small conference room near the entrance, could you please come back for a few minutes. We have our Division head and CEO on a Teams call.”
“Sure, give me a few and I’ll be right there. I just need to send the recording to your Division Head.”
She sort of chuckled. “Perfect, see you soon.”
I sent the report and went into the building and once I got checked in, they took me over to the conference room. I had just closed the door when the salesman I had interviewed started with, “Yeah, this guy didn’t even give me a chance to get a sale. He talked them out of the sale because he doesn’t like me.”
I heard a familiar voice say, “Phillip, how long have you worked for me?”
“Sir?”
“How long have you worked for me?”
“Almost eighteen months, sir.”
“Eighteen months, got it. Thank you. Give me a few minutes. I need to read the report and listen to the recording that Ken sent. We’ll be back in no more than ten minutes.”
Phillip was less than happy with me. He kept glaring at me. “I don’t know why I agreed to letting you record that…” I smiled and nodded.
True to the Division Head’s word, he and the CEO were back in a little less than ten minutes. “For some perspective, Ken has been contracted to work with us for more than three years. He has a track record of being 100% transparent and has never made a recommendation without data to back it up.”
Phillip was beside himself. “I bet that bastard said I should be fired in his report!”
The inegöl escort Division head sort of chuckled. “Phillip, would you be willing to bet your job on that?”
“Yes! One thousand percent!”
“You lose. Ken’s recommendation was that you learn our products in detail so that you wouldn’t mislead our potential customers. At no point did he say that you should be removed. In fact his report mentions that you have excellent potential, but are somewhat lazy and don’t take the job seriously and think you can just talk your way around that lack of effort. His interview notes from the company leadership that you gave the presentation to are summarized in one sentence. ‘The sales rep had no interest in selling us a product or service we actually needed and based on his behavior, it was evident that he had no idea what his company actually offered. I feel insulted by his assumptions.'”
Phillip looked at me and I could see his anger. I also felt that there was a reasonable chance he might attempt to get a bit physical. I know that my gray hair and slender appearance could mislead someone. I was more than capable of defending myself, but I didn’t want to have to physically address him. I could feel the hair on my arm standing and my gut feeling was that we weren’t done.
“Phillip, Lindsay and the rest of the team there. Please be at the Raleigh office Tuesday morning. Ken, you can attend if you want and of course we’ll pay for the trip.”
I replied with a quick, “Thank you sir, I’ll see you on Tuesday morning.”
“Phillip, I’ll ask that you please treat Ken with respect. While it shouldn’t need to be mentioned, Ken will treat you the same respect you give him and I would ask that you not even consider anything close to being aggressive with him. You’ll not like how that turns out. Have a great day everyone. See you all on Tuesday.”
We all walked out of the building and as I walked over to my truck I heard Phillip. “So Ken, are you some sort of badass or something? Should I be scared of you? Well I’m not!”
Lindsay walked over and looked at the bumper sticker on my truck. “So that’s why you were in San Diego, huh?”
I laughed. “One of the reasons.”
Phillip looked at the bumper sticker and laughed. It read, Not as lean, twice as mean, Always a Marine! “You know I’d still put you in the hospital old man.”
“Perhaps. Hopefully they will put us in the same room, so that we can finish what we started.”
Lindsay laughed out loud. “Phillip you dumbass, you get winded walking to your car. Plus, looking at Ken, he’s easily as lean as he was when he was in the Marine Corps. So knock it off before you get knocked out. Also, thanks for making me go to the main office next week, jerk.”
Phillip was still wound up and he moved pretty quickly towards Lindsay. “Fuck you bitch, I bet you…” I grabbed him by his wrist, and then inside his bicep and clamped down and he collapsed.
I leaned down next to him and quietly said, “Phillip, you are a pitiful excuse for a man. You never treat a lady that way. In some ways it would have been better if you’d just tried to hit me. Now I’d feel bad for hurting you. But I’ll leave you with this small piece of information, if it were my intention, you’d need an ambulance to carry you out of here. While I could easily do that, I prefer to see you writhe in pain for a bit. I’m going to let go and you’re going to go to your car and you’re going back to your hotel, okay.”
“And if I don’t… ahhhhh, okay, okay, I’ll leave.”
I helped him up and let go of him. “Thanks Phillip. Have a great evening.”
He mumbled something as he walked away.
I looked over at Lindsay and initially I thought she was holding back some tears, but I soon realized she was keeping herself from laughing.
“Oh my god Ken, that was so freaking incredible. You have to let me buy you a beer before you leave.”
“I don’t drink now, but how about a shake?”
Her eyes lit up. “I know a perfect place and it’s not far from my house. Please follow me.”
I followed her to this really cool looking vintage diner. It was clear from the signs that they were proud of their shakes. As we walked up to the front door, I casually asked her, “So you picked this spot because I’m old…”
She turned bright red and started stuttering and then stopped and smiled. “You’re a bastard, Ken, you know that right?!”
“Perhaps, but I did love seeing you turn red.”
“Oh, I’ll get you for that one. Just wait. For now though, the shakes are on me.”
I couldn’t believe all of the choices. I asked the lady what they were famous for and which one was her favorite. She was quick to answer, “Lime Phosphate shake for both.”
“I’m sold, I’ll take one of those please. What do you want, Lindsay?”
The waitress looked at her, “The usual?”
I laughed. “A regular here huh?”
Lindsay laughed, “Yes, the usual please.”
“You guys have a seat and I’ll get these out for you okay?”
We sat down escort bursa and I had to ask, “What’s the usual?”
“Chocolate covered Cherry shake. It reminds me of when I was a little girl and would go out with my mom for a treat. So now, when I make a decent sale, I’ll treat myself. How about you, how do you treat yourself?”
“I’m pretty simple, I’ll go to a small burger place in Knoxville and get their bacon cheese burger with no onions and vanilla shake. Plus, much like you coming here, they know me there.”
“That actually sounds really good. Yeah, I guess we end up being creatures of habit somewhat.”
“Tell you what, next time you’re in Knoxville, call me and I’ll treat you.”
“I’d love that. Speaking of that, are you just heading back tonight?”
“Yeah, it’s a bit of a drive, but goes quickly once you get out of town. It’s just about the same distance to Raleigh from there as well. So I’ll probably drive there Monday evening and get a hotel room somewhere.”
She had pulled her phone out, “Ken, it’s at least six hours, that’s more than a small drive. Please don’t think I’m being forward, but I have a spare bedroom that you can use tonight.”
The waitress came over with our drinks and mine was an unnatural shade of green and that made Lindsay laugh. “I didn’t realize they served radioactive drinks here.”
I tasted it and it was weird, and also familiar. I got up and grabbed a second spoon and handed it to her. “You need to try it. I’m going to bet that you’re not as surprised as you think you’ll be.”
“I’m not betting with you… I already know how one bet is going to play out… But, I agree, that is surprisingly good!”
“That bet was between Bob and Phillip…”
“Bob, huh?”
“Yes, I have known Bob for a very long time. He was my Commanding Officer when I was a young Lieutenant and was a great mentor. I was surprised when I found out he was the Sales Division head at your company. Before you get any ideas. I did reach out to him, but I specifically asked that he not interview me, or make a decision on using my company to eliminate any perceptions of cronyism, plus I don’t like feeling like I owe someone something.”
She laughed. “So who selected you and your company, the CEO?”
“Actually, yes. Bob asked him for the same reasons I mentioned.”
“I’m impressed, Ken.”
“Thank you. Sometimes doing things the right way is a bit more difficult, but worth it every time. So tell me young lady, how does a Canuck end up in Memphis?
She started laughing. “Ex-husband… That’s the long and short of it. We had attended college together in Calgary, he was getting his graduate degree, while I was an undergrad. When we graduated, he had gotten an offer to participate in a Doctorate program at SDSU, so I went with him and got my Master’s there. Go Aztec’s!”
“Go Aztec’s indeed! The Marine Corps paid for both of my Master’s, well most of them. I got deployed several times and since the classes were in person only, I ended up paying for a few classes out of pocket, but still worth it in the long run.”
“So what made you leave Calgary?”
“Typical young man issues… I broke up with a long time girlfriend and after I graduated I went to visit a friend in San Diego and he introduced me to a Marine in the Marine Officer Selection Office. After what seemed like a hundred signatures, and a short wait, I was off to Quantico Virginia for The Basic School. Then on to Logistics school at Camp Lejeune. Then back to Camp Pendleton for most of my eight years and somewhere along the way I became a US citizen.”
“Forgive me for prying, but is there a Mrs. Ken?”
I sort of laughed a bit. “Not any more. She passed away about ten years ago.”
“I didn’t mean to be inconsiderate. I’m sorry to hear that.”
“You’re fine. She had developed pancreatic cancer and it was pretty quick after the diagnosis.”
“My mom passed away from lung cancer, but she knew full well what caused hers. She smoked like a Mack truck. Literally until days before she died. She was beyond hard headed.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. Yeah some people can be extraordinarily hard headed. If I may lighten the mood a bit, may I ask a personal question?”
She nodded, “Please.”
“How do you feel I did when I evaluated your sale in Calgary several months ago? The reason I ask is that I rarely get personal feedback from the person I evaluated and I feel that we’ve developed a rapport. Plus Phillip won’t speak to me now.”
She started laughing and actually snorted. “I’m hoping he doesn’t speak to me either. But to your question, I felt that you gave an honest review of what had transpired, I’ve actually practiced some of what you had recommended and feel like I’m making progress in those areas. I had a gut feeling about some of the stuff you said, but when you’re presenting, you’re sort of in the moment, but still aware if that makes sense. I noticed a couple of guys that every time I looked at them, well, let’s just say that our eye’s didn’t meet.”
I chuckled. “Yeah, some boys never grow out of that.”
She laughed. “What if I were to tell you that you were one that I looked at and our eye’s didn’t meet?”
I turned red and started to try and explain myself and she started laughing. “Oh you evil woman!”
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