Looking Good Louis.

A recent article in WSJ suggested that a CEO’s knowledge of wine demonstrates depth of character and thus provides leverage with clients.

I’m hard of hearing, so I said, “huh?”

Certainly when dealing with clients, there are more nuances at play than you’ll find at the high school prom, and the smart operator needs the “sight” to navigate the choppy waters of client relationships. But knowing the difference between foie gras and Mardi Gras? Being well-travelled, dropping who’s who names and talking blue chip insider trash? Knowing an elegant pinot noir from Guy Noir?

It’s true, a lot can be said for the benefits of the schmooze and, with attribution to Peggy Noonan, it’s hard to argue that mastering the artifice of one’s profession doesn’t provide an occasional leg up. It’s why vendors take their clients to dinner, play rounds of golf, make nice, and try to find common social ground. These aren’t bad things, but they are secondary, and in today’s business climate, nearing meaningless.

I find the younger the client the less BS they want to put up with. Young managers are more direct and more likely to judge vendors by outcome rather than old school approaches like who knows whom or whether one’s choice of the 2001 Brunello Montalcino impressed the sommelier.

At the end of the day the services we offer and the expertise we provide determine whether the client’s cash register rings. The only thing we need to be really good at is – what we’re paid to do.

Ultimately that - and only that - wins the day.

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What they don’t show you is what happened after the lion licked all the A-1 Steak Sauce off the guy’s face:

Lion reunited with former owners.

Comments

[loose]

Well said mjg. The days of Randolph and Mortimer are long past.
We have a client who is in her late twenties who I think exemplifies the "new client". She's a no baloney, hard-working young manager who just wants to get the job done and done well. We like to work for those kinds of focused people.

[mjg]

"Looking Good Billy Ray!"

As one of the "young managers" you note in your piece, I agree with your comments. While I am still interested in getting to know the people with whom I work most closely, I won't think twice of exiting a relationship if the work is not getting done.

I have been out with vendors/clients who begin to riff on fine wines and top notch cigars; it was interesting to a point, but I didn't really care and couldn't really contribute to the conversation. His fine wine lecture carried on to no end. His inability to pick up on the table's boredom showed great LACK of character.

When building working relationships, I think it best to be interested and interesting, and balance the two accordingly.