Many years ago I had phoned a General Manager of a major hotel chain. In response to one of my questions he told me that he was blind and requested that I send him information in braille. I politely explained to him that I did not have any information that was written exclusively for the blind. Our conversation abruptly ended, but I felt like something was not right here?
In response to my curiosity, I then decided to find out if this GM was really blind so I made a call to the Front Desk Manager. According to this manager, the GM was not blind. I knew that he was pulling my leg, but I wanted to be 100% sure that the GM was not blind. I then asked the FDM if he could transfer me to another employee to confirm his statement. Again, I was told the very same fact--he was not blind! Once I heard the truth I felt insulted and then became disgusted by what I had learned!
I was feeling this way because he had lied to me and I took it personally--I had an aunt who was blind. I decided to call the GM to let him know what I had learned and what I thought of him. We exchanged a few words back and forth and he was very apologetic. He said that he was just joking and made a mistake. After accepting his apology, I then explained to him why I was calling and he responded with genuine interest in what our company had to offer and what we could do for him.
A few minutes passed by and he said to me," I'd like to go ahead and do this, but on one condition." I responded, "What condition might this be?" He said, "I will do the deal if you buy me a 1 year subscription to a not so nice magazine?" How could he say such a thing after what he told me at the beginning of our conversation? While I was surprised at his request, my curiosity got the best of me so I decided to play along and continue our conversation.
I then asked him, "Why is this so necessary?" He explained to me that he wanted this magazine because next month a model who did a camera shoot at his hotel will be featured in this publication. The GM told me that once he receives his first issue he will accept my offer and the deal will be closed.
Since I have a good sense of humor I took him up on his unusual request. Did he follow through with his side of the bargain? Yes, he did follow through with his word and the deal was closed. Perhaps you would have handled this conversation in a completely different way? I'm sure that many of you would have hung up on him, right? What's the point of this story besides a good laugh? The point of this story is to demonstrate that sometimes you need to have a good sense of humor to make the sale!
