Posted by Jon
We’re here in Florida, raring to go for this year’s APMP conference. We’re due to have ten of our team here this year, and most of us arrived last night having flown in from Europe and across the States.
We’re here in Florida, raring to go for this year’s APMP conference. We’re due to have ten of our team here this year, and most of us arrived last night having flown in from Europe and across the States.
I was reminded of this on Sunday evening, as we sat in the steak restaurant at this year’s APMP conference hotel. The assembled group handed me the wine list – as they know that’s a great way to keep me quiet for a while as I savour the thought of the available options! When the sommelier arrived to take our order, I asked his opinion about a particularly-interesting wine on the list.“It’s far too young to drink now, sir. But this one’s really good.” And he pointed to an alternative costing nearly twice as much – the most expensive selection in that particular section of the list. Now, had he recommended one (say) $10 – $15 more expensive, I’d have happily heeded his advice – but one at virtually twice the price?So… if it’s not drinking well now, what on earth is it doing on the list? Sometimes including too much information in the proposal (i.e., here, the wine list) actually damages your credibility. And if the customer’s given you an indication of their price range, countering with a suggestion so far outside their stated parameters is hardly likely to impress. Your offer doesn’t always need to be the cheapest, but it does always need to fall within the customer’s affordability windowThe dinner as a whole was also a good indication of the need to adapt your sales approach to the requirements of the specific customer. We were all pretty tired, having only recently arrived in the hotel from (variously) the UK and across the US. Most of us had skipped lunch on our travels (in my case, no food whatsoever being entirely preferable to British Airways’ meal offerings). For some of us, counting the time difference, it was already well after midnight for our body clocks by the time we got to the restaurant. I mentioned this as we chatted cheerfully to the lady who greeted us on our arrival in the restaurant.I’m guessing it must then have been an hour or more before our order was taken. By this point, we were all so hungry and tired that we declined the suggestion of appetisers. By the time we’d finished our entrees, we were in no mood for desserts (especially given the time it might have taken them to arrive). Now they must have guests – relaxing on vacation at Disney – who want a leisurely dinner; in our case, ignoring our stated buying preferences cost them the best part of $150 in lost additional revenue.If you’re here for the conference, the steaks are pretty decent – I’d give them about 7.5 out of 10. So don’t let my comments put you off! But maybe we should invite the staff across to the event?!
We headed straight into the hotel’s steak restaurant, and the group handed me the wine list – knowing that that’s a great way to keep me quiet for a while! When the sommelier arrived to take our order, I asked his opinion about a particularly-interesting wine on the list.
“It’s far too young to drink now, sir. But this one’s really good.” And he pointed to an alternative costing nearly twice as much – the most expensive selection in that particular section of the list. Now, had he recommended one (say) $10 – $15 more expensive, I’d have happily heeded his advice – but one at virtually twice the price?
So… to the first half of his statement: if it’s not drinking well now, what on earth is it doing on the list? Sometimes including too much information in the proposal (i.e., here, the wine list) actually damages your credibility. And if the customer’s given you an indication of their price range, countering with a suggestion so far outside the clues they’ve given you is hardly likely to impress. Your offer doesn’t always need to be the cheapest, but it does always need to fall within the customer’s affordability window
The dinner as a whole was also a good indication of the need to adapt your sales approach to the requirements of the specific customer. We were all pretty tired, after long journeys – and for some of us, counting the time difference, it was already well after midnight for our body clocks by the time we got to the restaurant. Moreover, most of us had skipped lunch on our travels (in my case, no food whatsoever being entirely preferable to British Airways’ meal offerings). I mentioned this as we chatted cheerfully to the lady who greeted us on our arrival and showed us to our table.
I’m guessing it must then have been an hour or more before our order was taken. By this point, we were all so hungry and tired that we declined the suggestion of appetisers. By the time we’d finished our entrees, we were in no mood for desserts (especially given the time it might have taken them to arrive). Now they must have guests – relaxing on vacation at Disney – who want a leisurely dinner; in our case, ignoring our stated buying preferences cost them the best part of $150 in lost additional revenue.
If you’re here for the conference, the steaks are pretty decent – I’d give them about 7.5 out of 10. So don’t let my comments put you off! But maybe we should invite the staff across to the event?!