You have 0 items in your cart
It is often tempting to give up when you are trying to contact someone and receive no responses, or a brick wall! This was the case with a recent contact, but perseverance led to some rewarding results.
I had met a key person on a large organisation, at a business meeting back in September. He invited me to put together a proposal to “Solve a particular problem”. This was a great opportunity to find out more about his organisation, him and also the whole process of pitching an idea.
BUT there was a major snag: namely booking a time for a telephone meeting. This gentleman is incredibly busy, and whilst I wanted this opportunity, I didn’t want to stalk him! Eventually I had correspondence from his assistant and arranged a date; for it to be rescheduled 3 times. I was cool about it: this chap is a busy man. But then I had a definite date and I prepared accordingly. I had to call the assistant’s number and she would then put me through. On the day, I called the number, only to find she was ill, so my call went through to voice mail!! Ahh!
I left a message explaining that we had a scheduled meeting and I’d be grateful if we could reschedule. I followed up by email; and voice mail, and email…. Two weeks later I followed up again as I’d had no response, only to receive a snooty note and a couple of dates (no apology). Oh dear! I didn’t want to make an enemy of the assistant.
So I decided to call HER, to build up a relationship. I had a long chat with her; enquired as to her health (she’s better now), expressed how grateful I was to her for organising this, we discussed dates (far more efficient than emailing each other), and discussed a lecture I’m giving at a University. She had some great ideas and input.
She even emailed me after our chat with a couple of links on the topic I’m lecturing on!
I could easily have given up when I’d had no response, but I persevered and came up with a solution for building relationships. A small voice in my head was saying “Is this worth it?” and “They don’t really want to speak to me” and I could have given up on this one!
“Never give up” is an old saying, but totally relevant here!
The post If you persevere you win the prize appeared first on The Executive Voice Coach.
