When clients can’t wait to meet you again
We’d all love to be well remembered by others.
We’d all love to make a great difference by living.
Who doesn’t wish folk to speak well of their efforts
And to mention their name with a voice of thanksgiving?
So we constantly seek for that course or that workshop,
Or that article inspiring or that webinar revealing.
Some new tip or technique that some guru can give us,
To render client meetings more memorable and appealing.
The kind of conversations which rise above the mechanics
Of investment performance and those technical what-have-you’s.
The kind where they wonder at what they are feeling
In the presence of someone sensing deep what they value.
What’s important to note before we take this much further
Is that tips and techniques and scripts aren’t the solution.
Far more important is that we review our intentions
And accept that our approach might require thought-revolution.
For we’re taught from our infancy strong techniques of survival.
We’re taught how to Make Progress; why Success is our striving.
How to Climb and Control; why Persuasion’s important.
And these mindsets work powerfully in their shaping and driving.
With the best of intentions, we take these patterns along with us,
As we approach those dear people we’ve vowed nobly to serve.
And those thoughts weave their pattern as we try hard to impress;
As we seek the outcomes that our expertise does deserve.
Let us look now at an approach that’s so different!
Let us shift our attention from our own self-concern.
Let us set to our side the rewards that call to us.
Let us look beyond short-term results which we yearn.
There’s one word never taught in our business education.
There’s one word whose power we’re not taught to unlock.
I’ll tell you that word. It’s this – “Contribution”.
When you once test it out, be prepared for a shock!
When you approach each discussion asking “What can I give them?
What enriching Contribution can I now provide,
To help them change their lives for the better and better?”
You’ll never believe the outcomes, til you’ve tried!
Contribution’s a behaviour with rewards deep and enduring.
Though they’re less obvious by far than more money and fame.
Go on, try it! I promise you’ll be showered with surprises!
Though you’ll not know what they’ll be, or from whence they all came.
Start your meetings from now with this quest at the forefront.
They’ll soon sense your unusual intention. And what then?
Well, the conversations will tend to directions astonishing.
And they’ll want eagerly to experience that… again and again.
Yes, they’ll want eagerly to experience that… again and again!
