Would You Argue About Guns With A General?
It was a 7 am on a gorgeous Friday morning as we all marched onto the shuttle bus headed for the airport and home for the weekend.
Now, I am naturally curious about people, so when a six foot 5 inch man in his mid fifties got on the bus in a US Army sweat suit, it caught my attention.
I struck up a conversation with him that quickly turned interesting.
This guy was an Army Reserve General and was passionate about the military.
One quick question about Iraq set him off on a tirade about the dumb things we are doing over there and how our forces are ill-equipped for the job.
We have the wrong guns.
Eventually, he got around to complaining about the M16 rifle and how it was too long for close contact, house to house warfare.
He said casualties and even friendly fire incidents were up as a result.
That's when things got interesting.
The guy sitting across from me was a salesman and had been quiet up to that point.
He should have stayed that way! He jumped in to the conversation with the suggestion that Uzis were the right weapon for our troops.
The General shot back quickly, "That little gun won't kill these guys, it will just make them mad!" Our friend countered with an example of where Uzi had been effective.
The General got incensed saying, "You don't know your weapons, son.
This is a different war.
" Again our friend defended himself by saying that the Uzi would work if you used it right.
" I thought he'd strangle him.
At that point, mercifully, the bus pulled up the terminal, the debate ended and we all got off the bus.
Had the debate gone on, I'm not sure what the general would have done to our friend, but it I am sure it would not have been pretty.
What was he thinking? Any sales rep should know that you never fight a person who has already staked out his position.
The probability of changing his mind is zero and the probability of ticking him off is enormous.
Unfortunately, I see sales people do it all the time and I don't think I have ever seen them win.
What's the alternative? For my money, the only way to win with the general was to keep asking him questions and let him keep talking.
That way, you might learn something and you'd avoid a fight.
The same is true with clients.
When you get that buyer who 'knows it all' and is willing to tell you about it...
let them! Only by letting them vent will you have the opportunity to discover possible opportunities and earn their respect.
Now, I am naturally curious about people, so when a six foot 5 inch man in his mid fifties got on the bus in a US Army sweat suit, it caught my attention.
I struck up a conversation with him that quickly turned interesting.
This guy was an Army Reserve General and was passionate about the military.
One quick question about Iraq set him off on a tirade about the dumb things we are doing over there and how our forces are ill-equipped for the job.
We have the wrong guns.
Eventually, he got around to complaining about the M16 rifle and how it was too long for close contact, house to house warfare.
He said casualties and even friendly fire incidents were up as a result.
That's when things got interesting.
The guy sitting across from me was a salesman and had been quiet up to that point.
He should have stayed that way! He jumped in to the conversation with the suggestion that Uzis were the right weapon for our troops.
The General shot back quickly, "That little gun won't kill these guys, it will just make them mad!" Our friend countered with an example of where Uzi had been effective.
The General got incensed saying, "You don't know your weapons, son.
This is a different war.
" Again our friend defended himself by saying that the Uzi would work if you used it right.
" I thought he'd strangle him.
At that point, mercifully, the bus pulled up the terminal, the debate ended and we all got off the bus.
Had the debate gone on, I'm not sure what the general would have done to our friend, but it I am sure it would not have been pretty.
What was he thinking? Any sales rep should know that you never fight a person who has already staked out his position.
The probability of changing his mind is zero and the probability of ticking him off is enormous.
Unfortunately, I see sales people do it all the time and I don't think I have ever seen them win.
What's the alternative? For my money, the only way to win with the general was to keep asking him questions and let him keep talking.
That way, you might learn something and you'd avoid a fight.
The same is true with clients.
When you get that buyer who 'knows it all' and is willing to tell you about it...
let them! Only by letting them vent will you have the opportunity to discover possible opportunities and earn their respect.
Source...