Trade Show Day 2. Dinner with a Prospect.

Sep 10, 2024 19:25

Today was Day 2 of the trade show I'm in Austin for. It was a long day on the schedule, starting with breakfast served on the exhibit floor at 7:30am and running through the evening reception until 6:30pm. Yes, an 11 hour day, all standing on one's feet while talking to booth visitors, is exhausting. Fortunately for me I got to cut out at 5pm to go to another event: meeting for dinner across town with a prospective customer.

This prospective customer is one whose business we've been courting months- years, actually. The challenge has been that we have a sales process based on best practices in which we need transparency from them that they're in a position to buy software before we engage in doing a proof of concept exercise. Think of it in terms of buying a car, where the dealership checks your credit before lending you a car for a test drive. Now imagine that a prospective customer at the dealership says, "No, you have to let me drive the car to test it out thoroughly before I even let you check my credit. Trust me that my credit is good." We've been at loggerheads with this prospect for years about whether "Trust me" is good enough. (If you find the car dealer analogy unfulfilling, consider it from the opposite point of view... Would you buy a car without a test drive if the dealer said, "Trust me, you'll like this car"?)

I'll spare you further details about the sales conversation for now. The other crazy thing about this dinner was that it was at a Texas Roadhouse restaurant. I'd actually never eaten at one before tonight... and part of the reason is it's a nationwide chain that's only one step above, say, Chili's. I wouldn't choose such a restaurant as a personal dining destination, and I've never had a business dinner at this level at such a place. Especially when multiple people have traveled in from out of town to be there. Even my colleague who lives locally groused, "I'm driving an hour through traffic just to eat at a Texas Roadhouse?!"

No, the Roadhouse wasn't my idea. The customer proposed it. As soon as I saw that I diplomatically suggested going somewhere nicer. No, his colleagues had picked it and were already excited about going, he insisted. Shucks, there was a time I would've been excited about going to a place like Texas Roadhouse, too.... And that time was called grad school. 🤣

sales, trade shows, dining out

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