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On a flight to attend a sales meeting, I found myself sitting next to the CEO of one of the 25 largest companies in America. At the time he had been featured in several selling articles.

I have to confess that I am the king of cynics when it comes to Really-Big-Company CEOs. Aren’t they really just a beneficiary of cronyism? Is it possible for the CEO at any Really-Big-Company to keep a straight face when they try to justify their compensation package?

As you might guess, I’ve been disillusioned by many Really-Big-Company CEOs. I don’t think I’m alone in that opinion. You’ll find plenty of sales articles that support this diagnosis.

“Maybe all CEOs at Really-Big-Companies aren’t Darth Vader after all.”

I recognized this person immediately (who asked me not to mention his name or company). He represented the perfect stereotype of a CEO. He wore an exquisitely tailored suit with cuff links and a jeweled Rolex on his wrist. I can assure you he spent more than $19 on his haircut (what my “stylist” currently charges me).

Interview Material for My Sales Blog
There was no way I was going to sit on this flight for two hours and not attempt to engage this guy. The seat belt light was on; he wasn’t going anywhere. I was not intimidated by him in the least. Well, maybe a little.

My approach was to pretend not to know who he was, introduce myself and then feign surprise at my good fortune of randomly being seated next to him. I think he bought my performance. It was what happened next that was eye opening.

After we introduced ourselves he said, “Scott, I know that some people prefer to not talk to their neighbor during a flight. Would you like to chat a little? You seem like an interesting fellow.”

I (trying to conceal my excitement and surprise) respond, “I’d love to talk with you.” I then realized that I probably could have been a little more subdued in my response and the word “love” maybe wasn’t the best choice.

This CEO then asked me, “Tell me why you’re on this flight today. How does it fit in with who Scott is?” He hit me with one question after another for almost the entire two-hour flight. I did 90% of the talking. He provided almost 100% of the questions and all of them were directed at me. He, for some unknown reason, was interested in learning about me.

The two-hour flight seemed like 20 minutes. He was a great listener. This experience was humbling, memorable and certainly endeared me to him.

Sales Newsletter: Taught Through Example
I learned two very critical lessons from this intriguing CEO during this encounter, both of which can be beneficial to us in sales.

1. Maybe all CEOs at Really-Big-Companies aren’t Darth Vader after all.
2. We need to forget about being interesting to people and focus on being interested in people.

Sales Blog Wrap-up
To build relationships with our customers we don’t need to fixate on entertaining them. We should instead concern ourselves with being a dedicated student of their issues, needs and concerns. I would have bought anything from this CEO. In fact, I did. He sold me on himself and I did all the talking. Ultimately, isn’t that what we’re trying to do with customers?

Further reading: Being a Name Brand Salesperson for a Really-Big-Company

To receive this sales ezine by email <click here> to receive by RSS <click here>. © 2008 Scott R. Sheaffer

Tags: customers, listening, questions

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