A Simple Roadmap of My Journey Through New-Client Acquisition

First stop – Information Superhighway. Surf respectable company sites. Find some I like. Research.

Next stop – Outreach Avenue. Send emails to top contact at identified companies. Arrange informational interview. Chat, love, praise, support…all good things.

Merge onto Meeting Boulevard. Fly to Chicago for meeting with business development director for top identified company. Giddy, excited, nervous, empowered.

Arrive at…dead end. ?!???

This was at once, the most exciting and frustrating experience. Yes, I got to visit Chicago and catch up with some old friends and enjoy some good meals. That was great and if I could make a business of gallivanting around the nation visiting friends and eating myself silly-SIGN ME UP. However, I went to Chicago because a company was interested in working with me on a partnership. The BDD, let’s call him Jack, indicated that they are planning to expand their business to Detroit (my neck of the nation) and are looking for someone to oversee this expansion. Their company is one that I patronize, I think their model is brilliant and I think I’d be a perfect ambassador for their organization-so I agreed to a meeting at his office.

I packed up the kids and the husband, jumped on a flight and landed in the Windy City three weeks after our initial conversation. Upon arriving at our hotel (strategically close to the business), I promptly contacted Jack to confirm our appointment. “Oh, Trish. I’m so glad you called. My BIG boss came to town and we’re meeting right now to discuss our move to Michigan. This shouldn’t take more than a few hours. Can we meet later?” “Sure! It will give us something more to talk about. Just call me when you’re done and we’ll meet.” A few hours go by with no contact from Jack. I send him a text, not wanting to interrupt the inevitable brain flurry of activity. No response. I figured the meeting must be going so well that he simply lost track of time and would reach out in the morning. He knows I’m in town for the weekend, so perhaps he could see me Saturday or Sunday before my departure.

Saturday morning phone call from Jack: “Trish. Hi. I’m sooooOOOooooo sorry about last night. The boss was in town, and we had this big company outing at a bar, so I couldn’t get back to you. Are you free today?” “Of course I’m free. Just let me know when and where and I’ll be there.” Jack: “Great! I’ll call you after my breakfast meeting and we’ll get together.” (Jeopardy theme song plays repeatedly over the next eight hours. No call from Jack).

On Sunday evening, after I was long home and thoroughly confused and bummed and convinced that I was making a terrible decision to work for myself, I received an email from Jack. “Trish, let’s connect the next time you’re in Chicago. Hope you had a nice time with your friends while you were here. We are still planning to expand to Detroit, but not until November or so. I’ll be in touch.” My mental response: “Dear Jack, by November I will have moved onto bigger and better things and won’t have given you or your crummy business a second thought. In the meantime, I will be patronizing your competition who has already made the move to my area and working on locking down a real contact. Love, Trish.” 

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