I used to be an Executive Recruiter. It was something that I enjoyed and I was surprisingly good at. My job was to "smooze" them - to try and get them to sign with a different company for more money. This is a surprisingly hard thing to do. These executives had a well bonded loyalty to their respected companies, and a change at this point in their lives just seemed foolish. Most executives were pushing 40, sometimes 50! I had a secret weapon; it worked every time - golf!
I hope you don’t mind me telling you a short story...
These executives are cocky; they're old, making lots of money (as is) and they have become comfortable with their everyday lives. These are three barriers that I have to break down before I can get anywhere or he accepts change.
I was taught that the first or the golden rule of sales is to listen and let them do the talking. So I did that, and in a way, all of my executives sold themselves on the new position; for the very same reason they were skeptical about taking a new job, making a change and starting over is the very reason they changed their minds - They're old!
At the time I was 21. The first thing an executive would say to me is something that always went a little like, "Why did they send the kid?" or "When is your dad getting here?" My favorite was, "They're hiring them young these days..." to which I would respond "Not in your case, I guess!"
It was game time! They are just there for the free round of golf. I was there to knock them down a peg and move on to the next. After all, they're there for 4 hours - plenty of time to talk someone down!
Normally when you smooze someone, your intention is to give them a false sense of confidence, make them feel good about themselves and try to evoke, what I call "the yes syndrome" - the goal being your sale or commission. Well, what do you do if they already feel good about themselves - cocky - with concrete shoes?
So, technically, my job is to "hack it up" and play my worst round of golf, so hopefully my dear executive will win (sometimes that doesn't even help) and stand tall, say something like, "Ya know kid? I'm starting to like you..." and the day will be saved - never happened. After the round, they would practically run to their cars, speed off, and never answer your calls again - a big "one finger salute!" Something had to change, and frankly, I got tired of loosing!
I found that all I had to do was win and remind them how old they are! All I had to do was "shovel it" right back in their face, like the wise-crack in the beginning of the round - Like when they say something to the point of, "Who taught you how to sell (smooze)? You're supposed to LET me win!" they would say jokingly. To which I would respond (this is great!) "I'm not selling anything. My product knows it's good and good products sell themselves. I'm just here for the free round of golf. Keep up ol'man." I say, dripping with sarcasm!
After he picks his jaw up off the floor, he glances at me, then at his useless, thousand dollar golf club, then back at me, who happened to be getting smaller on the horizon - a look of determination, anger and sheer insult ran over his face with an underlying theme of "Old" - he knows he's lost, he knows he is old and he knows that its not his 6,000 dollar set of clubs.
Sometimes you have to paint a picture with bold colors. The metaphor was set and just then my executive had an epiphany about life - his life. This golf game served as a microcosm of something bigger; maybe the struggle to keep up with the younger generation or maybe the realization, in spite of all he is, everything that he isn't anymore. He realizes that there are other things that he has to prepare for, like retirement, and his focus has to change. No longer am I just a spiteful kid, but a messenger who now had a greater "glow."
By the time we got to the next hole, he started talking and I listened.
"Keith Brown's Internet Marketing Strategies" - Vol. 1 - IS HERE!! DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE COPY NOW!
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