Today I had to travel for more than hour each way to meet a prospective client. All I have to do now is get agreement on the final work scope and negotiate billable rates and then I'll very likely have another contract on hand.
I thought that taking public transport would be more convenient than driving and I got to enjoy bay water views on my way to the client.
I'm not sure why people I'm dealing with in a professional context like telling me their life story or why they're constantly getting off track in a business discussion. Anyway it's very frustrating because every hour spent with them is one hour less for other things. And I have to keep them refocused on the agenda at hand. I would like to build relationships, get referrals and get relevant information to do my job. At the same time, I'd like to subtly find ways of limiting my time per meeting without being rude or abrupt. Definitely need work on that.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Throughput
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I think this is a male-bonding thing, or perhaps a lack of discipline on the client's part. The lack of focus sounds like what a schoolteacher faces each year - get the kids' attention, keep them in their seats, keep the focus on the lesson.
Older guys seem to wander off to get a bit of understanding of what the other guy is like - a sports guy, a do-it-yourselfer, a skirt chaser. From that you can get an intimation of whether the guy is respectful, arrogant, conscientious, thoughtful, aggressive and driven, community or family minded.
And it can be a fine line, between trying to assess the other person's character and staying to the business at hand.
And there is a caste identification, too. A clerk, a technician, will think only of the task at hand, as in 'type this page'. On the other hand, a person of consequence, an executive, a professional or craftsman needs the background of the task, needs to know the person they are dealing with, in order to put the work in motion.
Did you keep track of the distractions, the character that the client revealed during the conversation? Realize that this is a common 'get acquainted' game, and likely to continue through the relationship. What I do is to focus on issues relating to the site I am designing, or whatever project I am working on. But then, I still think of myself as more a technician than an executive.
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