This Week's Tip: The Secret Of Getting What You Want
Greetings!
The weather is often a topic of conversation,regardless of where people live or what time of
year it is. Certainly some weird stuff is going onright now all over the country.
Denver has had its share of bad storms so farthis season. I have my own Denver weather story,
and of course, it involves a sales scenario.
A couple of years ago I flew into a springtime snowstorm in Denver, my connecting city. To
compound things, the airport had electrical problems with the flight control navigational system. Total havoc reigned in the terminal. Since my flight to Denver was late arriving, my connecting flight to Los Angeles was already gone.
Instead of waiting in the customer service line snaking down the corridor, I called the reservation number of the airline. The helpful telephone service agent suggested I hustle down to Gate 48 and try to standby on the next flight to Los Angeles, although it was way overbooked.
I sprinted, weaving and hurdling down the terminal, only to be met by the flashing message board at Gate 48, snickering "Wait List Full."
That didn't deter me and the 10 business-suited guys in line in front of me, still thinking we had a shot.
I watched with amusement as these guys attempted to throw their weight around:
"My company does a lot of business with this airline, and I expect to get on this flight," demanded one.
"Look, I need to speak with your manager," snorted another.
One even threatened, "Give me your name. If you don't get me on this flight, your regional boss will hear about it."
And of course, "Do you know who I am?"
(Which brings to mind the maybe-true story of the had-it-up-to-here gate agent who responded to a similar question by getting
on the microphone and announcing, "Does anyone know who this guy is, because HE certainly doesn't." I digress. Back to the scenario.
Not surprisingly, all of these people stomped away in a huff, boarding pass-less.
I felt sorry for the guy behind the counter. And I wouldn't have blamed him, if, inside he was secretly crowing, "Your power doesn't
mean jack-squat right now, buddy. I am the King Poobah of the wait list."
Those self-important individuals apparently weren't salespeople--or good ones, anyway.
They didn't understand the magic rule of sales. Follow with me.
I approached the counter, and the agent looked like a boxer entering the 10th round, slightly beaten up, but braced to dodge more blows. I smiled, and calmly whispered,
"It's impressive how you personally can control, and are responsible for the weather, the electrical system in the airport, and how many seats were built on this plane."
He laughed (for the first time in the 25 minutes I was standing there) and said,
"Yeah, I waved my magic wand and single- handedly screwed up everyone's life today."
"I admire the way you handle the abuse you get. I'd probably snap at some point and tell people to kiss my ass-igned seating chart and go play on the runway."
He replied, "I'm tempted, but you just need to understand they're frustrated, and most
of them are used to telling people what to do and getting their own way."
I continued, "Well, here's my situation. I understand the wait list is closed, but whatever you
might be able to do is appreciated. I know some of these people are at the tail end of
their trip and just going home. Personally, I'm scheduled to do a seminar tomorrow morning
in Los Angeles, so it would be great if I could get there tonight."
He took my ticket, noticed I did have one of the higher levels of frequent flier status
(I let HIM discover it, instead of trying to bang him over the head with my "power").
He leaned forward and whispered, "I'll see what I can do. Stick around." He got me on the flight.
It gets better.
While crow-barring my 6' 1" frame into a middle seat, jostling for the armrests with who looked
like ex-defensive lineman on either side of me in the window and aisle seats, my name was called
on the plane's intercom to come to the front. The same agent greeted me:
"Mr. Sobczak, we've upgraded you to First Class, since a seat opened up here and we were able to get another standby passenger on."
That didn't stink.
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