Chasing the inevitable... or not chasing it.
Robert Solomon
Consultant, coach, and workshop leader, author of the widely read and respected book, "The Art of Client Service," expert in achieving behavior change with advertising/marketing/PR agencies, clients, and individuals.
The always-reIiable Rick English was the only person who took the time to respond to the question I asked at the end of a post of a couple of weeks ago: “How would you approach a prospective client that doesn’t want to hear from you?”
Here is what English said:
“I was just curious—have any of your other followers written back asking, “why bother.”??It was busy enough just responding to clients actually seeking help, and going after the low-hanging fruit, without chasing the unlikely.??Add to that, the best ideas or solutions typically come?after?in-depth discussions with the client.??Without having met first with a client, how could you know the best path to success?”
I wrote back:?
“Many thanks for getting back to me Rick; as is so often the case, you are the only reader I’ve hear from other than Darren Johnson himself.?
“There are two ways to read what I wrote:?
“As a step-by-step guide on how to go about this; or,
“As a step-by-step guide on?how not to.?
“Implicit in my instructions is the idea that this truly is daunting, with very,?very?long odds at succeeding, no matter how brilliant Darren’s idea. ??I even make a point of saying, “you might take a pass, knowing the best new business decisions are the ones where you say, ‘Not gonna.’”?
“Of course your reaction, ‘Why bother?’ is spot on, but in the spirit of ‘How to,’ I figured exposing Darren’s and my exchange would provide a ‘learning moment’ for readers, especially the more junior ones who might be likely to pursue a similar folly.”
Although worded differently, page 22 of The Art of Client Service essentially confirms my response to English’s note:
“The best decision an agency can make is to not pursue a potential account, especially one that distracts you from a true opportunity you have a reasonable chance of winning.”
Even in the most ideal circumstances –? with the moon in the seventh house and Jupiter aligns with Mars – the time and effort invested in pursuing what, for lack of a better term, I would call “opportunity,” almost certainly would not yield a satisfactory reply.?
The reason the response is “an” answer and not “the” answer is there yet might remain another, more compelling and persuasive way to go about this, one that entails a lesser expenditure of time and effort, with a greater likelihood of success.?
In truth there is no one, perfect “the” answer.? Pursuing any opportunity entails risk, especially one that is unsolicited and likely unwelcome.
That said, if you are someone who has a new, different, and possibly better approach, I would welcome hearing from you.
In the meantime…
Many thanks again to Darren Johnson for raising the issue, and to Rick English for giving this serious thought.? I suppose I could have responded to Darren’s question with the world’s shortest, two-word blog post, quoting Rick: ?“Why bother?”
Committed client service people take even a seemingly unserious question seriously, even if the answer, in the end, is more obvious than not.
Publisher, Campus News; also teaches college courses and runs historic Journal & Press.
5 个月I'd respond "why bother?" in the same way you could answer, "Why bother buying a raffle ticket? You're not going to win, after all." I think for a small agency or a single agent it's not the worst use of time to occasionally think big picture and to devote, say, 1% of one's overall effort to maybe hitting a life-changing long shot. It's that dollar-and-a-dream aspect that keeps many people in speculative fields interested. It is perhaps why so many gamblers are also attracted to sales. At the very least, it's an exercise that could bear fruit in some other way. For example, I recently spent a good deal of time writing a proposal for a hard-to-get grant. I felt it was a strong proposal. I didn't get the grant. However, the document I created contains items I can multipurpose. It forced me to finally write a decent bio for myself. It was an overall useful exercise -- and I can re-submit it next year for a new grant from the same sponsor.