Page 99 - Communication in Organizations Basic Skills and Conversation Models

11

The sales interview

Practical example

The Thames Hotel in London has been renovated and is going to give a big reception for
its reopening. Although the kitchen and restaurant staff of the Thames Hotel will take
care of part of the catering themselves, they will need catering assistance to make the
reception a success. The Thames Hotel has asked three catering companies to come up
with a proposal. Dinner Ltd is one of the selected companies and is very interested in
catering for this reception. In general, these types of assignments are a challenge to the
company. Catering for a prestigious hotel like the Thames Hotel is very good for the
reputation of Dinner Ltd and both the headwaiters and temporary waiters welcome the
opportunity to show their professionalism.
Gerald Glass (Commercial Director) has taken the Thames Hotel assignment to Harry
Haddock (F&B Manager) and Jenny Jacobson (Finance and Administration) with the
request to make a proposal. After three weeks the first tender is ready and Gerald, Harry
and Jenny go over the figures to see how their plan can be clarified and defended during
the interview Gerald will have with the representatives of the Thames Hotel.
Gerald has set it as his goal to get this assignment. He will have to be well prepared
and to have carefully considered the situation in order to beat his colleagues from the
other catering companies. These companies could of course also do excellent work and
be interested in the assignment for the same reasons.
Why should the Thames Hotel choose Dinner Ltd? First, because Dinner Ltd probably
delivers the same quality work as the other companies, but at a lower price. Second,
maybe because some of the temporary workers have worked for the Thames Hotel
before, or because they have thought of more creative dishes than the two other
companies. Gerald and Harry consider the quality of their product, in this case catering
for prestigious hotels. Furthermore they put together a list of possible requests and
demands that are not yet incorporated into the design that the Thames Hotel will probably
come up with during the interview. In this way they are trying to find common ground
between the demands of Thames Hotel and what
Dinner Ltd can offer. They try to present their ideas with hopefully decisive
arguments.
The interview is held on the date set and a well-briefed Gerald Glass goes to the
Thames Hotel. He is full of ideas in order to get the assignment, but at the same time he
feels a bit nervous because he doesn’t know what his rivals will be presenting.