My Client Is Going To Fail

"My Client Is Going To Fail"

Monday and Tuesday evenings are networking nights for me. I meet some wonderful people doing this, and occasionally find myself in the right place at the right time to help someone. Last week I spent sometime getting acquainted with a man. It was early in the evening and sorta felt like hard work, cause he seemed reluctant to build a relationship with me.

I did learn that he is an independent consultant specializing in helping clients to envision a "brand" that will make their business easy to remember. He said he was excited to be working with a client that is just starting a business and he could help them do it right, from the beginning. I told him we were in the same business, helping others to succeed. We did not exchange business cards, but I gave him the bookmark describing The Perception Of A Difference, The Power In Buying, Marketing, Selling, Customer Care.

Last evening, he appeared beside me as I approached the same meeting place. We stopped to chat; he was carrying the book;

"I ordered it on the Web and brought it hoping you’d be here and sign it for me. "

I reached for my pen.

"Your 27 questions in Chapter Three are amazingly useful. I now know that my client will fail and why. I know enough about my clients planned products to answer those questions and when I did, I discovered his planned product and business will fail. The answers come out wrong too early in the list of questions. My task is to help the client come to the same conclusion before going forward to failure."

He commented that he thought he should just ask the client the questions and let them answer them. I hope he does this because it will be even more powerful if the client provides the answers to the questions, rather than he, the consultant.

Later that evening, another reader commented about the value of the five questions in the story, Opening The Door, on page 207. I wrote the book at the urging of consulting clients I had the joy of helping to greater success. I am slowly becoming aware that the book has more power to help others than I could have dreamed. It is a humbling and wonderful thing, to me.

I write these blogs to share with you, experiences that move and bring satisfaction to me, so please excuse me if I occasionally sound like I’m just trying to sell. My hope is that you are learning a different way to network, or sell your ideas/products, while reading my blogs. Thanks for taking the time to read this.

Wes Zimmerman