Page 134 of The Session

“Don’t take it too hard,” Ben Klein said. “His company is teetering on the edge. He’s got no money. AI has been killing his market. One of his investors brought him here.”

Mark knew Colver and Klein were heavy hitters for Summit—sales guys who hadn’t necessarily bought into the tech but were skilled at networking and connecting with the right people.

“He was never going to buy from me, was he?” Mark asked Tru.

“No. I just wanted you to have your worst experience up front so everything else looked like a cakewalk.”

“Well, my worst experience almost ended up with a broken jaw,” Mark said. “His,” he clarified with a smile.

“Some of our most lucrative contracts have started off that way,” Colver told him.

“He’s not kidding. We did a whiskey night that got out of hand. Next day, their CTO signed the contract,” Klein added.

“I’m not sure if it was because they were afraid we were going to sue them and this was easier, or we showed them the time of their life,” Colver said.

“Maybe both,” said Klein.

“Don’t listen to these idiots,” said Tru. “The only reason they make any sales is because of sheer numbers. They’re the biggest ass-kissers you’ll ever meet, and they’re terrible at closing if you actually look at their records.”

“Let me guess—you went right in for the sale. Rookie mistake,” Colver said.

“I know, I’m an idiot. I thought we were here to sell stuff,” Mark admitted.

“That’s your problem. I blame Tru. She didn’t explain to you what this event is.”

“I’m sorry, enlighten me,” said Tru. “I’ve only been coming to these since I was, I don’t know, one.”

“We’re not the straw market over at Nassau where they try to sell you wooden sculptures of turtles and purses made in Vietnam. We’re Costco,” Colver said.

“What do you mean?” Mark asked.

“What he means is that everybody is here because they’re shopping,” Klein explained. “There’s something they think they want from us, but they want to make sure it’s actually right for them. You go to Costco because you’re ready to buy, not because you want a bunch of people trying to pitch things to you. You have to take the long approach, which means never trying to close them. Let them close themselves. They’re going to ask you eventually what you think. Then you get into it. Ask what their needs are. You tell them, no, they don’t need this. This would probably be a better fit for them.”

“You listen, and you make suggestions when they ask for them,” Colver added.

“Got it. Who’s my next target? Is it okay if I just start with a punch to the face?” Mark asked.

“Save that for the last night. Right now, you really just want to mingle. Don’t worry about sales. Be a friendly face,” Tru advised.

“Sure. I’m just going to walk through a crowd of billionaires and, you know, mingle.”

“He really doesn’t see it, does he?” Klein said.

“Sometimes he gets glimmers, but no,” Tru replied.

“Enlighten me,” Mark said.

“These guys are all pretending. They’re more worried about what people think of them than a seventeen-year-old girl at the prom. It’s all ego. It’s all projecting testosterone. But really, what they want is to leave early and get a good night’s sleep.”

“Somebody said the same exact thing about the warlords back in Haiti,” Mark replied.

“It’s the same dudes, Mark—just different area codes.”

“I got it. Mingle. Be myself.” Mark rolled his shoulders.

“We didn’t say be yourself, Mark. For God’s sake, don’t do that. Just be that guy in the YouTube video—the version they want to meet. Talk about Haiti. Talk about that shit. They’ll love it. They’ll eat it up. Play to your strengths,” Colver urged.

Mark knew his strengths were fixing bloody noses—and sometimes causing them. But those weren’t handy skills in this environment.