This is an ongoing story of encounters between the King, everyone’s favorite owner; his architect, Slide Rule; and his contractor, Igor. Characters are inspired in part by Gary Larson’s Far Side.
Slide Rule of Building Blocks Inc., the Kings No. 1 architect, walked into the King’s chambers and bowed respectively toward the King. He then sat down, and took off his hat in disgust.
“My, you are apparently upset about something,” said the King.
The contractor for the Castle, Igor of Moat Designs, who already had an audience with the King, laughed at Slide’s plight. “Oh, he just lost a big commission. I told him to move on to the next one.”
“You told him to move on. Is that your advice Igor?”
“Yup. He’s not going to get any business from that guy. As they say, fuggedaboudit.”
“Slide, is that the same prospect I gave a reference to just last week?”
“Yes, your Majesty. And I do appreciate the reference, but I don’t think I’ll ever get any business from him. I have written him off.”
“Tell me more about it.”
“Well, I was called down for an interview about two years ago. We were short listed, so we made the presentation but were not selected. The owner said to me on the side that he really wanted to use my services, but his board of directors decided otherwise.”
“They always say that,” Igor said. “They’re just trying to make you feel better.”
“Let Slide continue,” the King said. “And, in the spirit of the occasion, a round of wine for everyone. Slide, please tell us more.”
“Well, about a year passes by, and I got a call as they had a problem with a parapet rock wall. They couldn’t make it work, so they asked me to come down and take a look. I did an investigation and found where the problem was, and suggested ways to fix it. They thanked me, and then I never heard anything from them.”
“So, you recently got a call again?”
“Yes. They wanted to interview several architects, so I went down and made a presentation, and, if I do say so myself, it went very well. But the results were the same. I was not selected.”
“Lose the guy,” Igor said.
“Did he say anything to you like last time?”
“Well, I got a message this morning hand carried from him that read he really appreciated my effort, and that they were very close to making a switch, but decided not to do it. He said, sooner or later we’ll work together.”
Igor threw his hands up in the air. “Same story. I’m telling you they all say that. He’s just trying to get free work from you.”
“Well, taking everything into consideration, you are one step closer to getting a deal with him,” said the King.
“Being one step closer doesn’t pay the salaries around here,” commented Slide as he downed his wine.
“But you’re wrong. Very wrong indeed.”
“How is that your Majesty?”
“The missed sales of yesterday are the sales that are paying your crew today.”
Igor scratched his head. “Let me think about that. You’re saying it’s OK to have a missed sale?”
“Yes. Certainly. Sales, particularly product and service sales are a relationship business. Now, it might seem that having all of these interactions is leading you away from the deal. But the opposite is true; you’re getting closer and closer. Did you send a thank you note to your prospect?”
“Why waste the paper,” said Igor.
The King turned and looked at Igor. “Let me remind you that when your buddy here gets an architectural commission it generally leads to construction. That’s potential work for you.”
“Oh.”
There was a pause as everyone was thinking.
“Say Slide,” Igor said. “How about that note?”
“What about it?”
Igor continues. “Let’s do this. Write out the note and then let’s you and I make a visit together. You can personally hand him the note, and you can introduce me. I’ll bring a little present, like a fine bottle of wine.”
“Perfect,” said the King. “Keep on servicing your clients, and when business is slow, over service them. And I’ll do my part, I’ll provide the bottle of wine from my own wine cellar, and you can tell him for me that the King appreciates his business in my area, and I look forward to meeting him.”
“It can’t get any better than that,” said Slide. “Cheers.”
With the exception of an occasional guest appearance by the author, any similarity to actual events or people living or dead is purely coincidental.
Ronald A. McKenzie is director of business development for ARCON Associates Inc., a Chicago-area full-service architectural firm. He has made nationwide presentations of the subject of thought leadership relative to strategic planning.
