It Starts With Clients

Week 5 From Contact to Contract

Shortly after writing my first book, Clients for Life, I got a call from the head of training at a fast-growing Fortune 500 company. Her CEO had read my book and liked the approach. He asked her to contact me to explore opportunities to work together.

We had several good conversations. I shared a great deal of information about how her company could become more client-centric and the practices that would help their account executives grow their client relationships.

When she asked me how much I would charge for a workshop, however, everything went south. There was a long silence on the telephone after I named the fee. “We just couldn't afford that,” she finally replied. In retrospect, I should have insisted on talking to the CEO earlier in the process, but—well, this was nearly 20 years ago, and I've learned a few things since then. I stuck to my guns, however, and didn't budge on the fee. For the time being, that was the end of it.

Holding firm turned out to be the right strategy. The first opportunity that was presented to me wasn't the right one.

One year later, the head of training called me again. “Andrew, I believe now is the right time to involve you. We have the right event, and the budget to afford you.” I was invited to speak at the annual conference of their top 500 executives from around the world. This launched a relationship that ...