Page 214 - ConvinceThemFlip

convince them in 90 seconds or less
Even if the setting
is informal, stay
focused on getting the
information you want.
meeting’s informality to catch Mike, the head of their ship-
ping division, with his guard down.
“Mike, congrats to you, what a month. I’m looking for-
ward to your report.”
“Thanks,” replies Mike. “You know, we’ve been so busy
running all over the place getting orders out, we just didn’t
have the time to write an official report. Do you guys mind
if I just wing it?”
Abigail smiles and bobs
her head thoughtfully.
Then she replies with a
gentle tone. “Actually, I do
mind, for two reasons. One,
if your people are that stretched, they may be feeling up,
or down, or close to rebellion. A written report would go
a long way toward telling us how staff morale is holding
up under all this pressure, as well as provide some hard
numbers on customer satisfaction. And second, it sounds
like you could have done with some help down there, but
we can’t give you what you don’t ask for. Do you think you
could have a report ready by our next meeting?”
Abigail knows that what she wants from this meeting
is an in-depth and comprehensive look at where her com-
pany is at this very moment in time—and anyone who
stands between her and that information, like Mike, had
better watch out.
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