Katy and her colleague, Debbie, had been anxiously awaiting this ...

[Coya19@aol.com]

Katy and her colleague, Debbie, had been anxiously awaiting this dinner meeting. After working for several months to land the Hill account, it looked like it was finally going to happen over dinner tonight. Everything was all set; the clients liked the restaurant and appeared to be enjoying themselves. The first round of drinks seemed to loosen everyone up and conversation was flowing. When the waiter came back to refresh drinks, Katy thought it strange that Debbie ordered another double martini but assumed that Debbie was a professional and could handle the liquor. After Debbie's third martini, Katy started to get a little worried, especially when Debbie started complaining about the local professional football team that was a favorite of the clients.
 
  Yeah, and can you believe those jerks and their stupid quarterback? Debbie bellowed out. Katy saw the shocked and angry look on her clients' faces and felt her stomach tie in knots. She had to do something quickly about Debbie or not only might she be unable to close the sale tonight, but she also might lose this customer forever.
 
  Katy took a deep breath and said . . .
 
  Do you think the sale can be saved?

Question 2

Katy and her colleague, Debbie, had been anxiously awaiting this dinner meeting. After working for several months to land the Hill account, it looked like it was finally going to happen over dinner tonight. Everything was all set; the clients liked the restaurant and appeared to be enjoying themselves. The first round of drinks seemed to loosen everyone up and conversation was flowing. When the waiter came back to refresh drinks, Katy thought it strange that Debbie ordered another double martini but assumed that Debbie was a professional and could handle the liquor. After Debbie's third martini, Katy started to get a little worried, especially when Debbie started complaining about the local professional football team that was a favorite of the clients.
 
  Yeah, and can you believe those jerks and their stupid quarterback? Debbie bellowed out. Katy saw the shocked and angry look on her clients' faces and felt her stomach tie in knots. She had to do something quickly about Debbie or not only might she be unable to close the sale tonight, but she also might lose this customer forever.
 
  Katy took a deep breath and said . . .
 
  Is there anything Katy could have done in advance to prevent this occurrence?

[Melissahxx]

Answer to Question 1

If Katy plays her cards right, there is still hope for the sale, although she may not even want to attempt closing tonight. Her goal at this point may just be to simply finish dinner without offending the customer and then follow up to close the sale at a later time when hopefully, Debbie's behavior has been forgotten. It would also probably be good if Katy offers the customer a brief and simple apology for her colleague's behavior. No one is perfect, and hopefully the customer will be willing to forgive.

Answer to Question 2

Since it appears that Debbie might be a heavy drinker (double martinis are not for the faint hearted) one wonders if Katy should have suspected a drinking problem in advance. Even if she only had suspicions about Debbie's drinking, she might have reconsidered including Debbie in the dinner meeting and instead scheduled a business meeting at the customer's office.