On November 17, Cindy (my wife) and I completed the El Tour de Tucson, a 113-mile bike ride in Tucson, Ariz. We finished the ride in 8 hours and 3 minutes, and together raised $7,600 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS). But the part of the event that is relevant to this sales tip happened shortly before and shortly after the ride.

To preface the story, back in 1989 I purchased a Trek 2300 road bike, which at the time was a popular choice for racers who wanted high quality without going bankrupt (not that I did any racing). I’ve been riding that 2300 ever since, and everyone who rides with me knows, “I’ll never get rid of this bike!”

On our last training ride before our LLS team went to Tucson, I noticed a squeaking noise whenever I stood on the pedals. We were set to pack the bikes for shipping that same day, so after the ride I took a closer look. Much to my dismay, I found that the main tube running from the seat to the pedals had come loose from the bottom bracket – in other words, my bike frame was broken. At that particular joint in the frame, there is a fitting where the tube slides over the bottom bracket and is sealed with something similar to epoxy. The epoxy had failed, and my bike was basically unsafe to ride. (It’s not a good idea to scream down a hill at 45 mph on an unsafe bike!)

Faced with the possibility of not being able to ride the Tour, I decided to do what anyone good with tools would do ... I sized up the situation and took a shot at fixing the bike. So after careful analysis, I drilled four small holes through the tube (where it overlapped the bottom bracket) and inserted four stainless steel screws; in effect, “pinning” the two together.

Luckily, the patch held and I was able to ride with Cindy the following weekend.

Unluckily, when I related the repair story to our team coach, he informed me that Trek warranties its frames for life – if a Trek frame ever comes apart, Trek will repair or replace it for free – and added, “You probably voided your warranty when you drilled the holes.”

Of course, when I got back to St. Louis and spoke to several Trek dealers, each confirmed this, saying, “We don’t warranty frames that people modify.” Not being one to give up so easily, however, I decided to take my problem to someone with the authority to override the policy – straight to the top.

After a bit of research, I learned that John Burke is the president and CEO of Trek, so I called to get his address, and I sent him a letter. In that letter, I took responsibility for my mistake, but offered the opinion that, if I had modified the frame before it broke, I would have voided the warranty. But the frame broke, and THEN I modified it. So in the spirit of the warranty, my actions were irrelevant. I ended my letter by asking Mr. Burke to forgive my mistake and honor the warranty anyway.

I mailed my letter on a Friday, and the following Tuesday I received a call from one of the Trek reps, who said, “I’m calling about your letter to Mr. Burke. We decided to agree with your point of view and honor the warranty, as long as you send us the broken bike frame, so we can check it for ourselves.” So I packed my frame last weekend, and sent it to Trek.

“So what’s your point, Gill?”

I’m glad you asked.

Actually, my point is twofold:

1. When you want something done that is outside the norm, you’ve got to take your message straight to the top. So when you want to cut to the chase quickly, get paid based on value or decrease the time you spend “pitching” to your prospects, you’ve got to reach out to the executives who have the authority to make decisions, override policy, increase budgets and view your services in terms of results.
   
   If you consistently spend your time selling to lower-level people, you will never increase your efficiency. So with new prospect companies, start at the top.  
2. When a customer contacts you with a reasonable request, set your goal to be at least as responsive and customer-focused as John Burke was with me. Granted, I have no idea whether he actually read my letter, but whether he did or not isn’t the point. The point is that I mailed a letter to the CEO of a major manufacturing company on Friday, and I got a call back the following Tuesday.
   
   And on top of that, Mr. Burke, who could have given me a canned reply like, “That’s not our policy,” instead listened to what I had to say. Even if his response had been, “No,” I still say that type of turnaround and consideration is some of the best customer service I’ve ever seen.

Have a great week!

Gill