How to sell a horse

I must admit I’m having second thoughts about the Swedish meatballs at my local IKEA.

Reports from Europe suggest that at least one batch – thankfully, destined for the Czech Republic and not the good old USA – had something besides the lingonberries and mashed potatoes. Something with a bouquet of sweat, leather and stable.

Inspectors found that a batch of IKEA-bound meatballs contained just a teeny-tiny bit of horsemeat.

Which prompted long-faced company officials to pull the meatballs from the menu.

Problem … or opportunity?
Of course, all of this hubbub means that meatball sales are way down at IKEA. I wonder whether an adept salesperson might have been able to save the day. We’ve all been in sales situations where some unexpected disaster blindsided us and we’ve had to think quickly on our feet. Good salespeople know how to turn problems into opportunities, right?

I’m eager to hear from all those top sales dogs out there. If an angry customer said to you, “Hey, is there any horse in these meatballs?”, how would you respond?

Here are some idea starters. I hope you can do better:

• “Did you know that those meatballs have 20% less fat than our regular meatballs?”
• “Well, if it did … would that be a deal-breaker?”
• “Help me understand what you’re looking for in a meatball.”
• “Yes, there is. But this is limited-time offer, and you have to act quickly.”
• “We call this dish the Pony Express – it’s a little horse and it goes through you quickly.”

Post your suggestions below. We’ll announce a winner next week.

Photo Credit: kalleboo