I was eighteen at the time, and worked for a public accountant in California. I was officially working at a desk job in the accounting industry. One of our clients was a building contractor in Newport Beach. The owner, Mr. Henderson, had requested a luncheon meeting at a five-star restaurant on Pacific Coast Highway to go over his financial statements, and at the last minute the firm partner couldn’t make it. Rather than cancel the luncheon meeting, he decided to send me in his place. Having made it through the first ninety days, I believed I could do anything, and, though absolutely terrified, I accepted the assignment, grabbed the financial statements and headed for the restaurant. When I arrived at the restaurant to meet Mr. Henderson, he was already there – an imposing figure, seated at his favorite table and just finishing his first highball. I went over, introduced myself, sat down, and immediately tried to get started discussing business. Mr. Henderson had a different idea and suggested we order first. And the first thing he did was order himself and me a drink. He then ordered two more drinks for us before he asked for the menus. During this time, I did not realize it, but we were talking business – just not the business I thought I would be discussing. Mr. Henderson was telling me stories and I was listening to him tell his stories. Finally, in possession of the menus, we ordered lunch. With our lunches came two additional drinks. By the time Mr. Henderson was ready to discuss the financial statements, I could barely speak. As I realized my condition, he received a phone call and informed me that he needed to leave. I then handed him the financial statements, told him I would be happy to discuss them with him later, and went back to the office.
It was 2:30 in the afternoon when I returned to the office. Having left for the meeting at 11:30 a.m., I had been gone for three hours. As I walked into the office, reeking of alcohol, I went straight to the senior partner’s office, sat down in the closest available chair and told him that I understood if he was ready to fire me. To my surprise, he asked me one question, a question I will never forget: “Was Mr. Henderson happy?” I informed him that Mr. Henderson was absolutely feeling no pain and was very happy with our services. I was then instructed to go back to my office, close the door, put my head on the desk, and I was forbidden to do any further client work that day. Mr. Henderson was the firm’s largest monthly account. He would have been very, very upset to be left by himself to have lunch, and by taking time to have lunch with him, I had succeeded in making him feel important to our firm.
While I do not advocate this type of behavior (and I rarely drink at all these days), my point here is that I learned early (and in the extreme) that the major focus of our business lies in placing the client first.