Every once in a while I get called on to be perform one of my civic duties and serve on jury duty. Of course, no one wants to take the time off from work and sit in a courtroom watching a trial. In this case, it was a municipal court where most of the offenses are things like drunk driving or violations of city ordinances. As my luck would have it on this occasion, the offense was fighting.
The defendant, a cab driver , had picked up an irate fare who had been drinking and had quite a buzz going. The passenger, who had previously been convicted on the fighting charge a few weeks earlier, was there to testify against the defendant. He was a large man with a geri curl and was still angry about his conviction.
According to both men, the cab driver pulled up in a minivan and the passenger got in the vehicle, immediately berating the driver for "being late". He got in a seat directly behind the cabbie and began slapping his head once they were en route to the rider's destination. After a few minutes of this abuse, the driver pulled into a side road across from a coffee shop and told the rider to get out.
At this point a police officer just happened to be leaving the coffee shop. What he saw was as follows.
The passenger exited the vehicle but left the door open, so the driver had to get out and walk around the front of the van, where the passenger was walking, so the two of them confronted each other. The driver said he felt the rider was going to assault him (he had been getting slapped for the last few minutes) so he threw a punch that dropped the passenger. That's all the cop needed to see to arrest them both for fighting. (Apparently the city ordinance states that if one person is fighting, they both are fighting) and they were both taken to jail.
What does any of this have to do with sales? Actually, a lot. There are many times when we see a prospect or meet a client who treats us horribly. I know that I've met people and thought to myself, "Wow, this person is a real jerk." I may even take it personally. Let's face it, we can all be insecure.
But the truth is that your client or prospect isn't really a bad person, but they are probably having a bad day. And just like that cop, all you see is part of the story and not the series of events that led up to that point when you met them.
In my book I tell the story of the irate couple who I called on immediately after a vacuum cleaner salesman had thrown dirt on the floor of their home. They chased him off with a gun and still had the weapons nearby when I showed up. It was a tense situation for all of us.
I handled it by staying calm and assuring them that I was not associated with the previous salesman. Everyone eventually calmed down and they apologized profusely, even treating me to lunch and buying a couple of small policies from me.
Things happen and people have a lot going on in their lives. Your arrival in the midst of a crisis or family spat may be what triggers the client to take it out on you. Stay calm and professional, take a deep breath and know that you are just doing your job. In cases like that, I'd say about half of the clients have eventually apologized to me. "I was having a bad day and you walked in the middle of it," is the refrain.
As a footnote, the jurors in the fighting trial took a few minutes to exonerate the driver, who was a single parent and was now having to pay a lawyer several hundred dollars. The guy had been through enough and he didn't need to lose his job over the incident.
Chris Castanes is a professional speaker who helps sales people succeed through workshops and humorous presentations. He's also the author of "You're Going To Be Great At This!", a humorous look at sales. For booking information, click here. He's also the president of Surf Financial Brokers selling life and disability insurance in several states.
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