LES Face to Face Seeking Information from a Client Background LKM Graphics has been in business in Norfolk, Virginia, for almost five years. The company employs 17 full-time employees in its graphic design department, a part-time administrative as sistant, and three interns from Old Dominion University's graphic arts program. During a typical week, LKM prints 300,000 to 400,000 documents for businesses in the surrounding Tidewater metropolitan area. Most clients have 15 or fewer em- ployees, although there are two active and ongoing government contracts with the Naval Operations Base, which is nearby. The owner of LKM, Linda McLaroy, hired you three years ago when you graduated from the graphic arts program. You are now one of the senior graphics account managers with the company and supervise four other team members. Your Role As a quality control measure, each month you are required to visit the clients assigned to your region. During those visits, you are to answer questions, deliver completed orders, verify customer satisfaction, collect feedback data, and look for new orders. On a recent visit to Brickman's Bakery, you met the new office manager, Sylvia Greco. You had been told by a friend, who works at Brickman's, that Sylvia is considering closing her account with LKM Graphics and moving it to a competitor. Before joining Brickman's last month, she was employed by another organization in the area and had developed a strong rela- tionship with your competitor. Since she is comfortable with the competitor's operation and has friends there, she wants to main tain the relationship. You have also heard through the grapevine that Sylvia prefers to work with your competitor's account repre- sentative Critical Thinking Questions 1. Since you do not have a relationship with Sylvia, what will you do to get off to a solid start during your visit? 2. How should you approach Sylvia verbally and nonverbally? 3. What strategies among the ones discussed in this chapter can you use to find out where you and LKM stand in Syl- via's mind? 4. What might you propose to Sylvia to try to change her mind if she indicates that she is planning to move the account