When being a bonehead pays off

From: http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/stories/1996/10/07/smallb3.html?t=printable

Friday, October 4, 1996

When being a bonehead pays off
Sacramento Business Journal
- by Bill "Guerrilla" Gallagher, Ph.D

I was about to complete one of the biggest sales of my life.

Most of the preliminary meetings had taken place. I knew they needed our software and our computers. In fact, I knew that the government required that they had to provide adequate and uniform training for their employees.

We had a good answer, but it would cost nearly half a million dollars!

I now had an appointment with the senior VP to take care of the paperwork. I was pretty sure of myself, but just to make sure I gave the "right" impression, for this occasion I went out and bought myself a $250 Mont Blanc fountain pen.

In my usual guerrilla fashion, I started asking Mr. Big some questions relative to our proposed solution.

Then I said to him, again in good guerrilla form, "That sounds important, do you mind if I take some notes?" He said, "No."

So I whipped out my Mont Blanc and started to write.

Well, you can imagine my embarrassment when it wouldn't write. Two hundred and fifty bucks and it wouldn't write a thing.

You see, I forgot that fountain pens don't come with ink like ballpoints do. What a bonehead!

In my embarrassment I said something like, "Damn, my pen's out of ink." To which he replied, "Oh, here, use mine," handing me his 24-karat gold Cross pen commemorating his 25 years with the firm. I said, "Thanks," took his pen, and the meeting continued. "As you were saying ..."

The whole exchange took less than three seconds, and yet in those few moments something magical happened.

The whole rather formal, somewhat guarded, atmosphere which had existed changed. Suddenly everyone relaxed. It was as if I now wasn't someone to be feared. They could now lower their guard a bit and open up more. Maybe I could be trusted.

Oh, and I did get the sale.

I still use that pen on sales calls. I've never put any ink in it! I do carry a backup pen in case the customer's pen doesn't work either.

Now you may think I appear unprofessional with a pen that's out of ink. But think about it for a minute.

Think how intimidating it would have looked if, upon discovering the condition of my dry pen, I'd opened up my suit coat and there were 15 shiny steel pens of various sizes and shapes in my inside pocket.

Instead, I allowed the boss to get me out of a slightly embarrassing situation, one that can and does happen to people all the time.

Later, I learned the psychological principle that one way to powerful and trustworthy interpersonal relationships is to allow someone to help you, assist you, give you something.

But at the time, all I had in my armory was a dud pen.

Bill Gallagher is head of Guerrilla Sales & Marketing in Diamond Springs and co-author of "Guerrilla Selling." For more information on the topics and ideas in this column, call (800) 800-8086 or send e-mail to bguerrilla@aol.com.