Approach
(a fictional but realistic account)
She came to us in January saying “I love Paris in the spring and want to go there in May with someone I knew long ago. We’ll spend three days. The visit might include opera, a show with an international star and front row seats, fine dining, perhaps a musical or an evening of chamber music, and most of all some intimate, live jazz. I know the main attractions, but my friend doesn’t so I want to introduce him to a few carefully selected churches and museums without making it a marathon. Is that enough for us to get started? What would you suggest?”
During the next few days, we spoke several times. She began to trust us. She said they wanted to be treated with quiet respect and to enjoy the best of Paris. We made numerous suggestions, saying, for example, that a balladeer she had mentioned liking was giving an invitation-only show and we thought we could get tickets. We ended this phase by saying, “We plan to spend about 12 hours helping you with this trip. We need to recoup $600 for our efforts. We expect our commissions to be $500 so normally we’d ask you for $100 but you are first-time customers so we’ll waive our fee.” She asked us to proceed.
By the end of January, we had a proposal. We suggested they stay in a Diplomatic Suite at the Park Hyatt Paris-Vendôme where they would enjoy preferred guest privileges. We said they might want to hear a noted soprano who would be performing La Traviata that week at the Palais Garnier. The Berlin Philharmonic orchestra was in town for a one-night performance of Mahler's Fifth the next night. Or, they might consider the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées for the pianist Yuja Wang but we added “If you’re interested, we should decide today”. We made numerous additional suggestions. By now, her friend was deeply involved. They responded enthusiastically, embracing some options, declining others. We went a few hours over our allotted time but we were all pleased with the final plan.
They arrived on a Tuesday morning and were taken by chauffeur to their suite at the Hyatt. We had arranged for flowers and a complementary bottle of champagne with a card signed by the manager. There was only one glitch. Yuja Wang became ill and had to cancel at the last minute. We quickly organized a luxury dinner and cruise on the Seine for them. Afterwards, they thanked us graciously and promised to stay in touch. We still get notes, signed by both of them.
