“Let me play Monkey Wrench.”
That’s what the sign said, and the guy holding it was not going away. He’d held it up for over two hours.
Dave Grohl noticed a sign in the air and a face painted like the fifth member of Kiss.
Eventually, it was time. Time for Monkey Wrench.
“Hey Kiss Guy, I’m looking at you. Get your ass up here, kiss guy.”
Once the face-painted fan made his way onstage, Grohl handed over his guitar, and Kiss Guy strapped it on.
Grohl reached forward to pass him a pick, but Kiss Guy already had one. He was ready to rock.
“He brought his ooowwn fucking pick.”
That’s when you knew Kiss Guy had prepared for this.
Grohl tells his own story about preparation, and it’s the reason he lets random fans up on stage to play with the band.
When he was growing up and learning the drums, he’d play along with his favorite albums and learn them front to back. Every song, just like the album. He’d have these daydreams about showing up for a show only to find out it was being canceled, the drummer was sick, incarcerated, whatever. The only way they could perform is if a fan knew all their songs, front to back, just like the album.
In Grohl’s fantasy, he was that fan, stepping forward to save the day and play with his idols.
That is serious preparation for some shit that’s never going to happen, but I’d say it’s turned out alright for him.
Now let’s be clear, I don’t know Kiss Guy, but he left an impression on me. He got me thinking about how I prepare for different scenarios in my life, unlikely or not.
If you’ve taken a road trip you’ve planned your route and what to bring.
If you’re hosting Thanksgiving, you pull together a shopping list for dinner and the wet bar.
The problem is we spend more time preparing those road trip snacks than we do for a meeting, a presentation, or a pitch. At least Thanksgiving has a rough agenda.
Something is off. We can do it much better.
What does that dinner party look like if we get some music together, or spin up a few conversation topics? What does it look like if we scan the guest list and connect a few folks who have similar interests?
If we prepare like Kiss Guy?
We smile and dial and hope we bump into something. We pound the phones and hope we trip over a deal that’s just like the last one. We go into meetings blind and hope that they aren’t that picky, that they’ll go with some random sales rep they just met.
That is some low-stakes business. Low-hanging fruit. Low rewards.
Here’s a scenario. You make that call, and they pick up the phone. You give them a little bit of this and a little bit of that from your training and your preparation.
And holy shit they’re willing to meet.
Now don’t panic and don’t hang up. Don’t yell RECO at your boss. Hang with me for a second and you can get the keys to the castle.
But you need to ask for them.
Start with telling them you want to make the best use of their time when you meet. They will appreciate this. It’s very considerate of you.
Then ask them some questions.
What are you working on? What’s on the roadmap?
Where are you looking to make progress? What’s the hard part?
Then tell them you are going to do some homework and come back with how we’ve helped other clients.
Those 5 minutes of Q&A just 5x’ed your next meeting.
Start asking those smart questions from day one and they might even think you are smart.
Come back to them with some progress in a week and they might even think you work hard.
Those are good things.
The idea is to bring something to the party, something smart, something useful, something additive, something specific, and something hard to replace. Don’t show up empty-handed.
Get yourself prepared like Kiss Guy, so when they see your sign and call your name, when you get your moment on stage, you’ll make the most of it.
