I recently poached a wealthy client, and as I was trying to pitch to him in the traditional style of who I am and why taking my law firm on as his and his company’s legal representative would be the best decision he could ever make. He stopped me halfway and the only thing he asked me was if I play golf, I said I play not I’m quite good at it, he said I should meet him up at the IBB golf course on “a so so date” so we can play gold together and then we can be discussing whatever proposal with him while we play.
In fact, the only reason why he granted me an audience at first was that another client of mine who happens to be his mutual friend recommended me to him if not the man is approachable and busy and the easiest way he can grant you an audience is to take you on a golf date.
I recently met up with another prospect who invited me for lunch and I had no idea that what took place in that restaurant for the one hour and some minutes we spent there was an interview. To me all we did was eat, drink, talk about Nigeria and its politics and talk about social events; the issue of business did not even come in there, to my utmost surprise I later found out that that is the mode of operation of the man, that is how he conducts his interviews. He is interested to know if you have a grasp of everyday happenings around you, to know if you do not know or are unaware of some basic things happening in society then you will not be able to handle his business even if you have the best grades and have an outstanding CV. He will raise a topic and take a step back and let you do all the talking while he only nods pretending like he does not know much about the topic, that he own way of getting to know you.
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Most times what a client is looking for is a “wingman”. Someone they can call at any time and they will be best assured that the issue will be taken care of. Once you gain their trust that you can be their wingman you have won the business and you have won their heart. It is not really all about sending proposals and blowing big grammar inside the pitch; of truth, some of the rich clients you are poaching really have no time to go through your pages of proposals; all they need to know is whether can they trust you, can you deliver, are they sure of your unwavering loyalty. Once those boxes are ticked, other things become secondary.
These are some of the things that are not taught in school that you will have to go out your own way to learn; learn how to network, not in the traditional networking styles, which looks like you are hustling the prospect; your networking should be seamless and not mechanical. Research your prospect and know how to easily bond with him or her; there are some clients that the easiest way to open a conversation and create the first bond is to bring up a discussion about football, while for some is a talk about women, while some is to talk about politics.
Keep in mind that it is a jungle out there, there are thousands of people who want exactly what you want and are offering what you offer, so you have an added advantage if you learn things or know things that keep you a step ahead of your competitors.
