I lost a project with a potential client earlier this year because I was too casual with respect to the brand I projected. Said client is a well known private equity firm out of Chicago. They are button up shirts and jackets. They are plate glass offices looking out over the city. They are graduates of prestigious universities. Contrast this with the “brand”, or lack thereof, that I was communicating. I took multiple calls on the go. I was dressed casually during a video conference. When they made the decision to go with another firm, I knew exactly why they did not select my company.
For over a 100 years, this company has worked to develop their brand and anyone they partner with is either going to reinforce the brand or create risk. I did not look or act like they did. I was not an extension of their brand. Before you poo poo this, consider the following… imagine checking into the Ritz-Carlton and you notice that the front desk manager’s shirt is untucked, covered in grease stains, and they are on a personal call while you stand there. I was that guy and I knew it!
I knew I screwed up because I wanted their business but I did not do the work to win it. I did send them a brief note outlining what I failed to do and thanking them for the opportunity. I did promise to not make the same mistake again if they would be interested in a future engagement.
This brings me back to where are my shoes?
I can honestly say that the reason I failed to win this search was because of the person I became during COVID. COVID made wearing sweatpants to work (true, it was a home office) acceptable. COVID was the perfect excuse for not shaving. COVID helped build a habit of doing almost the bare minimum to get by without any accompanying guilt!
So… my shoes?
This year was the first year since March 2020 that I have returned to business travel. I had my first F2F meeting several months ago and I could not find my dress shoes. I looked all over! Running out of time, I dashed to a local outlet and bought a new pair. Upon returning home and getting dressed up, my lovely wife reminded me that my dress shoes are in the shoe box under our bed!
I am amazed that I forgot so much and I have felt like I have had to re-learn so many things I took for granted. It feels good but it also feels hard. To everyone out there that travels for business regularly, you know that you have a system and it is critical for you to maintain this system in order to be efficient and effective. I am getting there but I still need a bit more practice.
The moral of this story is that you have to compete to win and sometimes this means doing stuff that is hard. Don’t give up on trying to win what you want. Don’t choose being comfortable and blame external forces for corrupting your dreams.
You have far more control than you might think but it might be a mess trying to get back on top of things. The reality is that your “shoes” are probably in a box under your bed, not far away, just out of sight/out of mind. They are waiting for you to show up and will do their job… just like every other aspect of your life.
Go out there and make it happen. I look forward to meeting you face to face!
Written by: Austin Meyermann, Founder and President of Hunter Crown, LLC
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