Chapter 11Element 3: I Am InterestedThese Are My Goals
The sun shone through the office window, filtering through the leaves in the Denver office park. We'd just given our pitch. The woman across the walnut conference table took careful notes and asked solid questions, all good signs in our mind. Maybe we'd finally sold something!
We offered up a trial balloon.
“Based on what you've said, it sounds like you would find it useful for us to scope out a project that includes the following three elements…”
She looked back at us, her voice catching ever so slightly, as she searched for the right words. Our eyes twitched imperceptibly. We had a nibble, maybe even a strike, but the fish was swimming away. We could feel it.
“I really like you guys.…However, we don't have a need for your services.”
In the journey that each prospective client travels, Element 3—Interest—is often where there are bumps in the road. This is when clients begin making decisions about whether to invest further time with you.
You've done a great job of building awareness of your firm with a prospective client. The initial awareness could have come from a wide range of possible sources: a solid referral from a trusted source, someone you met at a conference, a lead from someone within your firm, an inbound email from your website or blog, or a cold call to someone you'd like to get to know. In any case, the prospective client is now aware of you. That's good. Without awareness of you or your firm, there's no getting ...
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