Thursday, November 19, 2009

I am in a fix

Last week my company members made a presentation to make of a tool to one of our Business clients. Having worked with the Business client for sometime now, he and I were generally chatting and he mentioned that he could hardly follow the presentation made because of the thick Indian accent.
I was confused if I should let the senior person know that his accent was not followed in the meeting or should I let the potential opportunity to expand business slip by?
What would you do?

UPDATE:
As you all agree it was a tricky situation for me. Fortunately the senior person who gave the presentation doesn't work in the same place that I do. I met with another person who works locally and told him that the client felt that our presentation was too quick for him to follow and that he could not understand and appreciate most of the capabilities of our tool. So I was going to arrange for another meeting with the client where we could walk over the tool. This was well received ... and tomorrow we have another demo with the client.

14 comments:

artnavy said...

send him a link to this post if he cannot identify u by the blog

seriously- let him know -gently- it would hurt him a little but better coming from u than then

~G said...

Tough situation to be in. Probably you could take over the presentation yourself? That way you achieve both. Later maybe you can tell your boss about his accent.
One thing I dont understand is why the client won't tell the senior person directly. It is okay to ask someone to repeat, and I think your boss will get an idea too.

DDmom said...

I have been in this fix before. Not yours, but your seniors. Apparently I was speeding up like a non-stop train without giving enough time, when I thought some of them were way too obvious and was skipping portions, spending more time on the "meaty" areas ;)

I would think it depends on your rapport with your senior. Telling in a subtle tone, that you hear that the audience couldn't connect with the presentation and wonder what the issue could be, he might actually appreciate you for bringing the issue forward. But if you colleague lacks confidence and is not open to suggestions, it might go the other way around.
Any case, if I were you, I would rehearse and rehearse the subtlety(does not come naturally, it's either black or white, sadly) and let it out.


Catching up on blogs after quiet some time, missed your anniversary. Congrats and here's wishing you many many more years of happiness.

mim said...

let the person know.
but say it as if it happens to everyone...

for eg. that even you CA had a problem with your accent and had to be corrected once...
and your cousin K. also had to be corrected etc, etc...
and then bring up the topic...

Sands said...

I would definitely communicate that message to him. You may have to massage the message a little bit so the receiver takes it in the right spirit. Saying you have had similar experience will definitely help me thinks. Good luck!

Choxbox said...

Tell us what you decided to do finally!

Lakshmi said...

That is a fix! You should let him know as it is important in business meetings that either party understands each other. Also, it might help the person work on his accent too, good for him in future.

AverageJane said...

I agree you should tell him but if you can't, can you convince the business partner to an informal presentation-less meeting where you drive the meeting?

Guddi said...

Send him the presentation with the Slide notes...

Pixie said...

Gosh!
What a situation to be in! {hugs}
But, yea, you need to tell him...
Gently maybe?
Or, maybe you could suggest that someone else could do it - you know in order to get teh required experience and all that!

so, what happened eventually?

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
The Print Lover said...

I was gonna suggest.. but you already did it :)

How did the 2nd round go?

Subhashree said...

Hi, first time here. Great blog, love the header :)

Solilo said...

CA, that was a tricky situation. Good that it got resolved this way. I know sometimes we are in such predicaments where both paths look confusing.

 

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