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!
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