It happens all the time. You’re lucky enough to land a qualified prospect, you create strong rapport, your customer loves your product, the price is right. There’s just one problem. They need to speak with their brother (or mother, or doctor, or lawyer, or board members) about it. This brother, of course, is vacationing in Italy and can’t be reached. I call this third party “The Ghost in the Room.”
Two weeks ago, I met my new friend, sales guru and best selling author, Jill Konrath, at the San Francisco airport and Ubered to my place. Before long, we were craving some goodies so decided to hop in my car and head to the nearest grocery store. The next thing I knew, I ran over her foot! Nice work huh? Running over your mentor’s foot? Then I wrote this article about it.
I’m not usually giddy about meeting people, but if you had asked me sixteen months ago if I could meet anyone, dead or alive, who it would be, I’d have said Michelle Obama, Stephen King, and Jill Konrath. We met at the National Speakers Association conference in 2016. Two hours passed and we found ourselves drinking wine, laughing hysterically, and planning our next rendezvous.
As I was boarding a flight from Kauai to Maui, a small Chinese boy came up from behind me squealing and shaking with delight. He pointed at my carry-on, reached in with his little hand and removed a bottle of pills. His parents were apologetic and embarrassed. As it turned out, the container he clutched was a bottle of Chinese herbs, complete with recognizable Mandarin writing. It seems as though he had zeroed in on something familiar and comforting from China.