Not Emerson Lake and Palmer. I’m dating myself.
When I began the process of thinking about who I wanted to work with, I had a flashback about my first days in the business in the early 80’s… and clarity about who I didn’t want to work with.
When first building my business, I couldn’t afford to park in downtown Pittsburgh. So, I’d park across the river in the Pittsburgh Steelers stadium lot.
It was fine in the summertime.
The long walk across the bridge that spanned the Allegheny River gave me time to get my head prepared for the day; but the wintertime was brutal. The cold, blustery wind penetrated right through to your bones. The worst part was, the ski hat that I used to keep my ears from freezing always gave me “hat hair.” Not good on days with appointments.
My used Fiat Strada was missing the reverse gear and I couldn’t afford to fix it… which meant that I had to park on level surfaces, or be stuck pushing the car up an incline to get it out. Sometimes, I’d forget.
As I walked out of a prospect’s office, I hadn’t even thought about the fact that his window faced my slightly downhill parking spot. I got into the car, and with the door slightly opened, in “Fred Flintstone style,” I inconspicuously used my left foot to push my Fiat out of the parking space and speed away.
The worst part: I didn’t even like the prospect.
Why was I working so hard to impress someone I didn’t even like?
Here’s my tip: Stop working with clients you don’t like.
Work with ELP Clients.
Easy (to work with).
Listen (to what you say).
Pay (you the most).