Engagement

14Sales

GENE'S ASSISTANT SEEMED NERVOUS. “I'm sorry,” she stammered. “I'm sure he knows about your meeting. But, um, but he's not back from lunch. Uh, you know, sometimes he gets held up.”

“Lunch with a customer?” Vicky asked pleasantly.

“Um, well, yes. I'm sure it must be something like that.”

“I understand,” Vicky said. “Can you let me know when he's ready?”

“Oh, absolutely,” the assistant promised.

I hope it's just the life of a salesman, Vicky thought to herself. But she feared worse—Gene's assistant seemed to be trying to cover for her boss. Was this a bad omen?

Gene was wearing a big smile when they met half an hour later in his office. “Couldn't get away from a customer,” he said in a brief apology. But his face was flushed, and the smile seemed forced. Vicky sensed that something wasn't right.

“Who were you meeting with?” she asked.

“Old customers, you wouldn't know them.” Vicky didn't appreciate the brush-off.

“With your help, I'll get to know a lot of our customers. But for now, I'd like to talk more about what the sales force can do to improve our business results.”

“I hope you know how tough it is out there,” Gene said.

“I'm sure it is, Gene, and I want to know about your challenges. I have some questions, and I hope you have ideas on how we can get better.”

“You know how hard we've been working?” Gene's smile was gone, and he sounded angry and combative.

“Can you tell me about that?”

Gene hesitated, as if surprised by the question. “Well, I mean, hard. Really hard.” ...