Business Capture As The Courtship Of A Prospective Customer

Imagine the Following Romantic Scenario. A young man is determined to marry. Believing he would be a great catch, he prepares a PowerPoint briefing highlighting all he has to offer a wife. His very polished slide deck includes a lot of great photographs of himself, a detailed history of his childhood, education, and athletic awards. He includes his financial status, a picture of his apartment, and a list of his favorite foods, restaurants, and movies. The slide deck expands as he thinks of ever more things a potential bride would like to know about him.Playing the Field (Finding a Prospect)Our young man doesn’t have any particular woman in mind—he has spent most of his time at his computer gaming for the past few years. However, he comes up with a sure-fire strategy. His local Starbucks has free Wi-Fi that he has used from time to time, and he has noticed a lot of women come there. With his presentation loaded on his iPad, he orders a Caffè Misto Venti and stations himself at a table with a good view of the door. A number of possible candidates come and go, but his courage fails him each time. Approaching a complete stranger with a proposal is tougher than he expected. Finally, he commits—the next eligible woman who comes through the door will get his proposal!Popping the Question (Submitting the Proposal) No one comes in for a long time. Finally, an obviously single candidate appears. He waits until she gets her iced Caffè Mocha Grande and boldly approaches her table. He asks if he may join her and immediately turns on the iPad and begins his presentation. She is so startled she sits through his entire proposal, speechless. At the end, she regains her composure, resists causing a scene, and simply walks out. The young man is baffled and tries to protest—he is sure he was her perfect mate. Nevertheless, she drives away without even a glance in her rearview mirror.Coping with Rejection (Lessons Learned)Being determined, he collects himself and redoubles his effort. After getting similar rejections from a number of proposals over the rest of the day, he gives up and returns home. What was the problem? Was his proposal not elaborate enough? Should he have hired a violinist and offered flowers? What his proposal too short?The answer is obvious in this silly situation. Offering a marriage proposal to a stranger is never going to be successful. This is obvious but before we are too judgmental let’s asks ourselves if we’ve ever been guilty of something similar. Have we ever submitted a proposal to a potential customer who does not even know we exist? Have we depended on winning solely with a proposal when there has been no relationship established? Did we overlook the courtship as he did?Courtship (Critical Element of Capture)Setting aside the romance and personal chemistry, capture is very similar to a courtship. Wikipedia defines courtship as the period in a couple's relationship which precedes their engagement and marriage, or establishment of an agreed relationship of a more enduring kind. During courtship, a couple gets to know each other and decide if there will be an engagement or other such agreement. Courtship involves spending time together whether dining and dancing or conversations at professional meetings, industry days, or client meetings. If a relationship flourishes, a proposal—even a somewhat nervous or awkward one—is likely to be accepted.Marriage (A Contract)Whenever we are tempted to invest business development dollars on an opportunity in which we don’t already have a favored position, remember, and repeat to others, that proposing without prior capture is like proposing marriage to a stranger.