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My promise to myself is that there is no holiday treats until this deal is landed.
Another month ticks over and I am still getting closer with baby steps landing the biggest account of my business career. They say the harder things are to achieve the sweeter the success and I can believe that. I have spent so much time on this one account and it is a bastard to crack.
Honestly work began on this close to 3 years ago with inside help which did me a lot of good and was more of a hinderance. That anchor was tossed aside over 18 months ago and have been navigating the waters off my own bat ever since. The hours I have spent just trying to calculate the next move has been endless and so far it is working.
I do believe the Covid pandemic has actually helped as the person who was not taking my calls is now taking them. She is the buyer I have to sweet talk and flirt with to win her over. I don't care what she looks like and in most cases it most likely helps as if she is not an oil painting it becomes hard work. I am comfortable with the phone chats and they are working like a bomb.
Funny enough even though we are so called out of the lock down period they are all still working from home. This company must have a few hundred employees in their head office and they are all still working from home. This has helped as I get her full attention and I have got her onto my agenda which she has said she will work on as everyone takes their annual leave. I presume that we are talking December time which is not that far away.
They as a company need to find savings(thanks Covid) and I am the one bearing gifts. We are at least speaking the same language and haven't changed my tune since the first time I have spoken to her. They as a company have thrown millions down the toilet yet they are shutting stores and retrenching staff which sickens me. I have told her my first task is to find enough savings to cover her department annually and much more. The aim is to put her up in lights hoping I get the opportunity to maybe look at other areas of their business once I have proved myself.
This company is in the top 5 companies in South Africa and they have noticed a drop in foot traffic through their stores. We are talking food and not luxury items so the economy is shot and there is no way of sweetening that. I don't get it as for me grocery shopping was a highlight of the lock down period as you were allowed out. She did chuckle at that one, but it is so true for me anyway. Sad life I admit that popping out to the shop is a treat, but what else are you going to do?
Relationships are the fundamentals of good business and this has proven to myself how you must never give up and no never means no. Finding a solution to get around a hurdle like not picking up your calls is a tough one and I mentioned that she ignored me for 6 months and look what she nearly missed out on. This will taste sweet but it is not landed yet so there is still work to be done, but it is so close. A promised holiday is guaranteed for myself once this is put to bed and not before.
