Case Study: A Bird In The Hand

For over two years the sales representative was trying to set a meeting with the president of the largest direct mail house in the Midwest with no luck. Nothing seemed to work - phone calls, direct mail, letters, even holiday gifts and other promotions. He decided to give it one last try and do something so completely unique that the president would sit down and talk with him, or he would be sent packing. Either way, the worse thing that could happen was that the answer was "no".

PROBLEMS:

1. The rep knew that the president was genuinely busy, so what could be possibly do to break through and capture the attention of the president long enough to sell what he had to offer?

2. Since he could never get close enough to actually introduce himself to the president, this would be a cold call after two years of trying to meet with him.

The rep decided to use the second problem to his advantage.

SOLUTION:

The rep rented a tuxedo and a limo. He bought a pigeon in a cage and tied a small carrier-pigeon case around its leg. He drove to the company and parked in front where he would be noticed by each person entering and exiting the building, and brought the pigeon into the building to the receptionist.

He explained to the receptionist that we needed to deliver this pigeon to the president in person, and that only the president was allowed to receive this package. She asked him to take a seat and wait.

Four hours later the president left his office and went to the lobby, followed by a small group of curious employees. The sales rep explained that his employer was aware that there were numerous complaints regarding the current paper distributor, and that the pigeon was there as a last resort.

The rep handed a small scrap of paper and a pen to the president. He explained that if the president needed help all he had to do was write a few words on the scrap of paper, attach it to the leg of the pigeon and let it fly out the window. The president wrote "timely delivery" on the paper, rolled it up and attached it to the leg of the pigeon. He opened the window and let the pigeon go. As soon as the pigeon flew away, the rep introduced himself and said that timely delivery was what his company specialized in, and that he was there as PROOF of how fast he could respond the any issue!

RESULTS:

The rep landed a project immediately - small, but at least he could prove himself and his company with the current orders. The size and number of orders grew steadily until they were the largest paper supplier for the direct mail house within 16 months.