On hustle

I was having a conversation recently about needing a bit of hustle in a practice. A friend was telling me about a meeting she had discussing a $10k planning day with a prospective client. Everyone was excited about it, and the client said yep let’s do it, send through the proposal.

My friend made a couple of mistakes at this point. Firstly, she didn't get a date locked in. At that point with everyone in the room, that would have pretty much cemented the engagement. And for a lot of people locking in the time can be as much of a commitment as paying the money.

 And secondly, she took a month to get the proposal done. Of course, by that time the client had moved on. The engagement can be resuscitated, but it will require effort and time for that to happen.

I often think of these sales conversations as a tennis game. If they have hit the ball to you, hit it back. Quickly. Now. Don't catch the ball, put it in your pocket, and walk off the court for a week. Put the ball back in their court.

And if they don't hit the ball back to you, don't be afraid to pick up another ball and send that across the net.

Have a bit of hustle.