During a recent sales meeting that I was in, the sales reps began describing the current status of their sales opportunities. One of the reps, John, decided to tell the group about a deal that he had just 'closed'.
Now, before I finish that story, I must tell you this one.
Last Tuesday, I was talking to my friend, Whitey K., about the trip my wife and I had taken through the Florida Keys. As part of that discussion, I related to Whitey my tarpon fishing story.
Me: We hired a guide and went tarpon fishing.
Whitey: Catch anything?
Me: As a matter of fact, I caught a 5 foot, 125 pound tarpon.
Whitey: What was that like?
Me: It took 20 minutes to 'leader the fish' and I was thinking "this isn't so tough." Our captain, Captain Dan, said, 'You're not done yet. It'll be at least another ten minutes before you get that fish in the boat." Just then, the fish took off 300 feet of line and made a couple of big jumps out of the water. I immediately started trying to reel back in all the line I had just lost.
Whitey: So how long did it take?
Me: 35 minutes and at least 20 trips around the boat! I nearly fell into the water but I finally got the fish back to the boat.
Whitey: That's cool! Did you get a picture?
Me: Uhmm, not really.
Whitey: How come? Didn't you have a camera?
Me: No, we had a camera. I, uh, we, uh... never really got the fish in the boat. You see, tarpons are catch and release. They're not good to eat. They're considered a sport fish and so it's catch and release.
Whitey: So you got it close to the boat and the captain held it to get a picture and take the hook out?
Me: No, not really. You see, what happened is that I finally got the fish next to the boat and Captain Dan reached for it once but couldn't quite reach it. Then just as we were getting it along side of the boat the second time, it jumped out of the water, snapped its head, broke the line and got away.
Whitey: Then how do you know it was 5 feet long?
Me: We were estimating.
Whitey: And because you didn't get it in the boat, you couldn't weigh it.
Me: Uhm, that's right.
Whitey: (one full minute of uncontrollable laughter...)
Me: What are you laughing at?
Whitey: Let me make sure I have this right. You didn't get the fish in the boat, you didn't measure it, you didn't weigh it and you don't have any pictures.
Me: Uh, yeah, that's about right. (I start to laugh.)
Whitey: Well, now that is some fish story!
Now, going back to the first story without going into all the details, here is a summary of John's 'closed deal'.
- They really liked the presentation.
- They really liked us.
- They are certain that, unless the current provider comes in with an
unexpected great deal, we will get the business.
- The prospect will certainly recommend that the company go with us.
- If we show them a contract for 15 months instead of 18 months, that
would be great.
- They are going to check with one more reference, but they don't
anticipate a problem.
- I'm supposed to call them next week for final details and to schedule a time
to get the contract signed.
- The deal, if sold, is a million dollar sale.
- The deal, if sold, is supposed to transact on August 1, 2010.
- No deposit.
- No contract signed
- Supposed to talk next week.
- The decision maker wasn't in the room.
I don't know about you, but to me, this sounds like one heck of a "fish story!"
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