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Doing Business in SCs?

peripateticfun

I've heard of men bringing customers into a SC to close a business deal, but aside from a hedgeho.com article that lightly skims over the mechanics, there isn't much on the web about how this is done. So some questions to folks who have successfully closed business at a SC before. I'm starting to regularly pitch 7+ figure deals with high margins, and I'm starting to hear more and more that showing the customers a good time at a SC at this level of dealmaking is common and sometimes even expected. I know for certain that this year I lost one such deal explicitly because the competition did exactly that while I played the pre-sale completely straight and down the middle, even after the customer hinted at being shown a good time. I sign off on such sales-related expenses in my company as long as it produces results.

I get the impression that this is usually done to close a deal, not open it (though Glock's early sales history is a rather remarkable exception), so where in the sales cycle did you find it most effective?

Did you use going to a SC as a way to close the deal and then not go again until the next deal, or was it more of an on-going, multiple trips arrangement like what Glock's national salesman did?

Obviously you have to have a good read on your customer before broaching the possibility, but what kind of phrasing do you use to actually suggest going to a SC?

If you read the customer wrong, then how did you recover from your gaffe?

What time of day do you suggest to go?

Are the customers nervous if they can tell you are a regular, or does being apparently known by the staff and dancers help with the atmosphere to close the deal?

Do most customers who go along do it because they normally don't go to a SC and your offer represents an excuse to go, or are they regulars themselves?

How did you keep your customers out of trouble with their significant others after the trip to the SC?

What was the timing of the business negotiation? Negotiate first, then party later? Reverse? Or a little alternation of both? Do you politely decline girls even joining the table until business is settled, or let them roam in and out of your business gathering?

How do you ensure you get a table that is not drowned out by the music volume, just call the club and reserve?

I can handle a customer who goes with me and not know the rules; I've handled awkward conversations dozens of times in my sales work, I would even kind of expect this to come up. But have you ever had a customer get drunk-rowdy with the dancers? I'm pretty sure I would just pre-emptively and discreetly ask the bouncers to gently kick us out and laugh with the customer about it afterwards at a bar, but has this happened to you and if so what did you do about it?

Ever had a customer lose control and just start ordering hour after hour of VIP/champagne room time and bottles once he realizes you're footing the tab for *everything*? If so, what did you do about it (I figure if the deal doesn't have enough margin for an entire evening of that until closing, it isn't worth closing in a SC)?

Ever had a customer lose even more control and express wanting to go OTC with a willing dancer? How did you handle that?

I generally figure that if I add this to my repertoire of sales tactics, then I'll use tuscl.net to find low-key, upscale places like The Lodge in Dallas or Sapphire in NYC. Would that be a generally sound way of picking the SC venue for doing business?