I had been working with Chas all day. We spent most of that time in a meeting with his main customer and a couple of Chas’s direct reports. Chas was in his element. He was totally tuned into what the customer wanted and agile enough to be able to figure a way to get it for him without ever having to give away the farm. It was a treat to watch this master at work. Chas is without a doubt the best client relationship builder at his level in his entire huge company. His clients adore him. So do his bosses, who are at the very top of the food chain. On our way to dinner that night, Chas told me he was expecting a call from A.J., a VP of Finance. Chas had run afoul of A.J. by making a deal with one of his customers without understanding that he was not in alignment with a certain finance process. Chas wasn’t looking forward to this chat.
Just as we pulled up to the restaurant, the call came in. Since Chas’s car was equipped with Blue Tooth, I was able to hear both sides of the conversation. I could barely hear A.J. He spoke just above a whisper. However, I had no trouble hearing Chas and not just because I was sitting next to him, He is extremely passionate as a rule. On this occasion he was also a bit excited and perhaps nervous, thinking he was going to get chewed out. The conversation didn’t go that way at all. After A.J. politely explained the protocol Chas had failed to observe, he went on to compliment Chas on the wonderful relationships he had built with the customer. Chas informed him that it was all about the trust he had created with them. But he did so at a decibel level that gave me the mental image of A. J’s hair being blown of his head. I didn’t know until later that A.J actually had no hair on his head. Continue reading Chas – Matching Energy