I met my friend and long-time mentor at Stella last week. Stella is an interesting place, because it is a restaurant that is located inside of Macy’s; on the 6th floor, with a magic elevator that stops only there. I had never heard of this place before and it will be a good, convenient place to meet clients, (35th Street and Broadway) so I thank Adrian for suggesting it.
The place is bright and proper and there are only a few empty tables.
I am enjoying my special summer squash pizza, (not as bad as it sounds) as a very loud young woman comes and stands near me at the bar. She is waiting to meet a friend who works at the restaurant. “How are you? How was your weekend? Did you do anything fun?” she asks him, rapid fire. The friend answers quietly. I am distracted for a moment by the jumbo television which is showing a program on the food network. (It strikes me as odd that they are showing a cooking show in a restaurant, but who knows, maybe that actually makes sense.)
A young man, who has joined the woman and her friend says abruptly, “So, I want to tell you about this special beer we have.” (I realize that this is a sales meeting, not a friend meeting, so I listen more closely.) “This beer is made with 20% rosewater!” he says with a smile. I hope beyond reason that I have mis-heard this. The only place I want rosewater is in my hand lotion; NOT in my beer.
The woman is now quiet and her friend, (whom I am now assuming is actually the restaurant manager) is SILENT. “It’s made with 20% rosewater,” he emphases. Silence.
Defeated, the sales guy says: “Well, I’m going to tell you about the pricing anyway.”
Here’s my question. If I show NO INTEREST in your product what-so-ever, does it matter how much, (or how little) it costs?
I’ve heard my share of bad pitches in my life, but this one was painful.
What do you think he could have done differently to turn this pitch around?
P.S. Here’s a photo of the summer squash pizza
