Running The Sales Marathon

When I was just starting out as a creative, it didn’t take much to get me excited. 

In those early days, when you first hang your sign in the window, it’s actually not that hard to get some attention. You make a few posts, your friends and family congratulate you, and then come the tire-kickers. 

The name is an old salesperson term for unserious car customers who browse the lot, “inspecting” cars with no intention of buying anything. It’s the perfect name for this first wave of attention you receive.

You’ll hear from the folks that want to collaborate on your projects, folks who have something similar going on, and worst of all, the businesspeople and entrepreneurs who are very convincing when they say they have “something they could use you on right now”. They may even ask for a quote. They might even schedule meetings. And then nothing happens.

What you learn after this wave of tire-kickers is that it’s incredibly rare for you to stumble upon someone who is ready to go.

Instead, if it’s a fit, you have a series of “really good conversations”. You connect on matters of taste, you talk about work preferences, and they’ll sound like it’ll be a matter of days before you start. 

And then you leave that meeting so, so excited.

But it almost always takes longer. In some cases, much, much longer.

The Long Game

A couple of years ago, I wrapped a long-term contract with an agency I loved. They were one of the best-connected production agencies - and very much in the last days before dropping “production” from their job description. I asked the owner for a list of agencies he would target if he were me and he gave me a hit-list I still reference.

One of these agencies was a perfect fit and when I searched the company on Linkedin, I found Doug, their Executive Creative Director.

I sent Doug the coldest of cold-call DMs, referenced the people we had in common and left it as an open invite to chat.

Doug replied, we exchanged a few DMs, we had a video call, and now (five or six projects later) they’re hands-down my best client. 

That process took 15 months.

Not because Doug was a tire-kicker, far from it, but because big relationship deals, the most meaningful ones, take the longest to create. 

How To Make Big Relationship Deals

When you first start out, you’ll get excited by every conversation that sounds promising, and you should. But remember it’s a marathon not a sprint.

Try to keep this process in mind:

Keep the momentum going - when those exciting meetings come to an end ask what the next steps might be. Be easy-going about it and commit to being the person that initiates and owns that next step. If they say, “let’s chat again towards the end of the month” set a reminder and reach out then.

Don’t be pushy - Keep in mind that the reason you’re so excited to work with them is that they seem busy with all kinds of great work. If you’re pushy and needy then you become more work. No one wants a relationship with that.

Be flexible with the timeline - They might sound like you’re going to be inking a deal in the next 48 hours but try to keep a level head and focus on moving the relationship forward. Don’t think about the finish line. Just think about the next meeting.

Dial up and down as needed - When the conversations seem to be about the same thing or it’s becoming harder to book them, dial down the communications. For example, if you’re speaking monthly and it’s going nowhere, shift to a check-in or send updates every few months.

When you're starting out, it's easy to get discouraged when those exciting conversations don't turn into immediate work. But remember that the best client relationships - the ones that become career-defining partnerships - can take a long time to develop.

The tire-kickers will waste your time in weeks, but the relationships worth having will take their time to materialize. The key is learning to tell the difference and having the patience to play the long game.

The One-Question Interview

Working Creative: What separates meaningful professional relationships from transactional ones?

Doug Muir: Well, from my perspective, having been in this industry for over 2 decades now, the most meaningful relationships, the ones that endure, the ones that you reflect on fondly and end up using as a benchmark for what constitutes the most fulfilling work of your career... those relationships are usually grounded in true ego-free collaboration and shared desire to create something you're proud of.

I'm lucky enough to have had many opportunities to collaborate with incredibly smart, strategic, talented and passionate people across many disciplines and job titles. I'm even luckier to call some of those people friends.

Not only does better work come out of those kinds of partnerships vs purely transactional pairings, but it also facilitates the opportunity to grow, improve and get better at what we do via exposure to other perspectives.

Our work is creative. It's strategic. It's meant to move hearts and minds. Straight up transactional partnerships to me implies one party (or both) is missing the point and lacks the passion to truly put something great out into the world.

Bonus Question:

Working Creative: What do you imagine/picture/visualize when you hear the words “Working Creative”?

Doug Muir: A Working Creative is someone who has an enduring passion to make things that have an impact on the world around them. They're someone who relishes the idea of the next challenge and runs towards opportunities to put new things out into the world in only the way they can. 

Further Reading

The theme of maintaining momentum in relationships with your client leads is central to Understanding (and Riding) Sales Cycles - the first of five strategies outlined in The Five Most Effective Ways I Learned To Get Work I Love. Sometimes you’re not even aware you’re establishing that relationship, but your potential lead is thinking about reaching out and each post and comment is inching them forward. Stay a presence in their universe! Build it and they will come.

Parting Thought

I know for a lot of creatives just starting out hearing the advice to spend 15 months chasing a lead can be discouraging. Let me be clear - not all relationships start this way. Clients can blow in and out of your life without warning. But the ones that transform your career, the big ones, almost always start this way. So, chase your deals, bang out the quick ones, and nurture the slow ones. Only time will tell where 15 months will lead.