Chapter 13
Let's Revisit a Deal
Remember this your lifetime through:Tomorrow there will be more to do.And failure waits for those who stayWith some success made yesterday.Tomorrow you must try once more,And even harder than before.
—John Wooden
It has been said that patience comes to those who wait. Have you ever pitched a deal that you thought your contact was extremely interested in, but when it came time to close the deal, you were told, “Thanks, but no thanks. The timing isn't right.” Did you apply the three Rs—retreat, reevaluate, and reapproach—but still not get a commitment? The biggest question of all now, folks, is: Did you follow up with that client six months or a year or more later?
Just because a client can't purchase your product or service today does not mean he or she won't buy it tomorrow. By learning to document and track those times your contacts expressed interest but did not buy, you can find a wealth of new business in long-forgotten files and piles.
Got Closer?
Sheryl Leach was a savvy businesswoman and mother. She was frustrated in the late 1980s with the quality of children's programming on television and had taken the initiative to write, direct, and produce her own children's video, Barney the Dinosaur. Sheryl, who was president of The Lyons Group at the time, wanted to know if I could help her find distribution for her product. She had been able to position the purchase of her video in a test market situation at Toys ‘R’ Us, but they weren't spending ...
