Tuesday, February 21, 2012

One Way Prospects Make My Day Fun

You always hear people talking about how work should be fun and how you should make sure you enjoy your work, because as we all know, we are all spending more and more time at it. For me, I know every day will be fun because at least once a day, I will receive a call from a prospect - and note that these folks will remain prospects because I don't ever want them as clients - and they will utter my most favorite line. I wonder if they even realize what they are saying, but I doubt they do and I doubt they really care. In any event, they crack me up and make my job rather entertaining. What is it, exactly, that they say? Well it goes something like this: "Hi, Jim. Listen, I don't know anything about insurance and I don't care to, but let me tell you what we're going to do..." Really? Do you really think I am going to follow your lead after you make it abundantly clear to the world that you have no idea what you're doing? And what's up with a pre-determined team: "what WE are going to do?" I don't think so. I'm not doing ANYTHING with you. But as I say, this is the part of the day I love the most. Even though no money ever comes from these folks, the joy they bring inspires me to do the work that does lead to financial reward.

Fortunately, I have so many great clients who call to collaborate, not negotiate. Clients who know that I believe that nobody wins until everybody wins and that only through trust and aligned interests will they ever achieve their corporate goals. And those are the partnerships that make it really fun over the long haul, with plenty of laughs along the way. So let me tell you what you should do. Keep those calls coming. Either way, I know it's going to be fun.