That Tuesday I bombed a pitch and it actually helped

Last month I had a sales meeting in Burbank where I totally forgot my main talking point halfway through. I stumbled through the rest but the client's VP actually said he liked my honesty and it made him trust me more. The deal closed two weeks later and it taught me that fumbling can sometimes work better than being smooth. Has anyone else had a bad meeting end up going okay?

3 comments

3 Comments

baker.holly1mo ago

You mentioned the client's VP liked your honesty and that reminded me of a time I was training a new hire and completely blanked on a basic policy question. I just said "you know what, I don't remember" and we looked it up together. That turned into a half hour talk about how nobody knows everything. Sometimes being wrong on the spot can build more trust than pretending you've got all the answers.

hannah3201mo ago

Oh man, that reminds me of a buddy of mine who's a project manager. He was in a big meeting with a new client and someone asked him the budget breakdown for a phase they hadn't even started planning yet. He just laughed and said "I'd be lying if I gave you a number right now, give me a day to actually run the numbers." Client respected him so much for that they ended up signing a longer contract. It's wild how just saying "I don't know" can be the smartest move.

faith_shah881mo ago

Blinked reading that, a half hour talk over one little question?