Gracious Inch By Gracious Inch by Pamela Francis

The scariest word in my age group today seems to be… “unhirable”. “Unhirable” is the state of being whereby no one will offer you employment ever again under the current technological and millennials-only regime, usually because of your age and what some would deem obsolete skillset while you’ve been out being a parent. If you’ve got any dings on your background/credit check it could get doubly precarious for you.

Because I wanted to be home for my children when I became a mom, I started my own home-based businesses and have been running them for 13 years. People don’t “hire me” so much as I “land clients”. Landing clients involves the art of the deal. The dance between me (the one who wants to be needed enough to command dollars commensurate with today’s living standards) and “them” (the ones who a. want my services, and b. need my services, but c. never seem to want to put out more than the value they reap in any given deal).

I don’t hate “them”. There’s a little bit of “them” in all of us. At some point or another we all want to walk away feeling like we’ve scored “something” “for nothing”. During pitch meetings and presentations none of the money people in the conference room are ever on the edge of their seats screaming, “God! I want to give you so much money for what you’re about to be doing for me!”

If only.

Instead, those of us who cultivate clientele for a living have to move people’s wallets to where their hearts and minds are. One gracious inch by one gracious inch.  I don’t know anyone for whom the sledgehammer approach works.  And I certainly haven’t mastered it.  Nope.  A phone call here… an email there… a well-timed visit here… and the providence of planets aligning in my favor is what closes deals.

One gracious inch by one gracious inch.

Tags: #closing deals, #cultivating clients, #millenials-only, #momtrepreneurs, #unhirable