![\"managementofpain\"](\"https:\/\/berkonomics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/managementofpain.jpg\")
<\/a>the way to meet them at the hospital. \u00a0As they waited in the emergency room, after more episodes, his breathing finally became easier, and by the time the doctor saw them, he could find nothing of worry, ruling out stroke or heart attack.\u00a0 Our CEO then returned to the restaurant and met with the chef to have him list all the ingredients from the meal the executive was eating.\u00a0 The problem was, as you guessed, an undiscovered food allergy, with a possible ambulance ride averted and a happy ending.\u00a0 \u00a0The executive even tells the story now that the CEO may have saved his life, because he was unwilling to own up to the fact that his breathing was so very difficult.<\/p>\nNow, I would not have been so fast to take charge. Maybe it\u2019s a guy thing.\u00a0 I would have been thinking about the sales relationship and the sale, and would probably have let the guy drive home, acknowledging his discomfort, and ending the dinner early.<\/p>\n
This leads me to my story.\u00a0 Years ago, I was in the process of selling a $125,000 system to a well-known baseball hero who owned his namesake hotel in St. Louis.\u00a0 Flying on the red eye to make a morning appointment, his hotel bus driver dropped me off in the dark a few feet beyond the lighted portico. I stepped off the van into\u2026 a recently dug pit about two feet deep, and broke my foot in the fall.\u00a0 What pain! \u00a0I tried to sleep in the room they gave me, and managed to make it to the 10:00 AM meeting with the very well-known sports figure and sales candidate.\u00a0 He saw me drag my leg into the conference room, made no comment, but asked if I would like a tour of the hotel.\u00a0 \u201cOf course,\u201d I said, ignoring the pain and dragging my foot the entire way through the tour.<\/p>\n
Well, I didn\u2019t make the sale.\u00a0 And I didn\u2019t sue the hotel.\u00a0 I was in selling mode and nothing was going to detract from my focus or reputation.\u00a0 I sure was not admitting to the problem or seeking recourse for the obvious flagrant error by the hotel in not marking the excavation.<\/p>\n
Who was right?\u00a0 Well, I should have led the meeting with my story of woe in order to protect others.\u00a0 The other CEO took charge, and made a friend of both the potential customer and his spouse, who she called as they drove to the hospital.<\/p>\n
Is it a guy thing?\u00a0 Is it conditioning us to put things in perspective regardless of the personal outcome, including a lost sale?\u00a0 I think about these two examples now, and have concluded that there are some traits of a great CEO that cannot be learned easily.\u00a0 Putting others above self, and sacrificing a short term goal is not easy for a type \u2018A\u2019 driven entrepreneur when the stakes are high. But it is the right thing to do.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This is the tale of two CEOs, one of them unfortunately\u2026.me. \u00a0It\u2019s a story of how people handle unusual situations when selling to the top \u2013 an executive of a prospective customer.\u00a0 And the stories couldn\u2019t be more different. Recently … Continue reading