As I waited by the elevator, I thought over what had become as clear as day the moment we had walked into the meeting. It was not the first meeting we had had.
The first time round, I had been blinder than a bat. I had missed the subtle clues she sent my way during the meeting.
It had been a business meeting, she was the client, and we needed her business.
Because of the importance of her portfolio, I had come along with my colleagues who usually handle this kind of engagement, just to make sure nothing went wrong.
The meeting had gone well, she had even sent a follow up email that said, ‘Thank you for the meeting, I look forward to seeing you next week’. No, I didn’t even infer that the ‘ see you next week’ in the email might refer to me in person, and not the entire team. I didn’t even think much of the fact that I was the one supposed to be sending that email, her being the client and all. I simply replied ‘Thank you too. See you next week’.
I was happy about signing her up as a new client. They talk of subtle hints – ladies tilting their heads and brushing their hair, throwing you a shy eye then looking away – I suppose there had been that during the first meeting.
But during this second meeting, there had been none of that indirect stuff; she had been in the league of pushup bras, batting eyelids and come hither eyes. All this without seeming to be bothered that other people would easily figure out what was going on.
Now one week later, we had earlier that morning walked into our second meeting with her, and all the pieces had fallen into place when she made a beeline for me, beaming a megawatt smile like I was a long lost dear friend, and had given me one of those dainty handshakes that ooze with intention. Certainly, the others noticed this preferential treatment because it’s only me she had shaken hands with, the others had only merited a ‘hello’.
The entire duration of the meeting wasn’t any different. She kept directing everything to me, even after I made it clear that I was not a content expert on the meeting, and kept redirecting her questions to the other on my team.
And the way she asked her questions, and received the answers was like a light going on and off; her face would light up as she asked me the question. Then after I redirected the question and someone else started responding, the light would noticeably dim, as if she was irritated they were taking up too much of her time.
The transformation was unbelievable. I don’t know what the rest of her team thought of this, I had too much on my mind to start getting worried for them too, in addition to my team that was being treated like third class citizens.
After about 40 minutes of this grueling interchange, the meeting ended.
We all said our farewells, shook hands all round, me getting a longer handshake and a pat as well on the hand from her, and we exited the offices. But as we waited for the elevator, she asked me to hold on as she brought me her card.
The rest of the team knew better than to linger around and still be there when she came back with her card.
Which I’m almost certain she already had on her, but well, she had to get me isolated. The others gave me sly looks, but well again, I am their superior. As I waited, I wondered how much this deal would depend on how I handled this lady’s declaration of intent.
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