Tenacious B

We used to have a Jack Russell Terrier named Rosie (aka Boutros Boutros Gally, Agent Han Ratty and Rose Monkey among others– don’t ask me why). She was just such a little fat furry ball of sunshine! But give that dog a toy and she turned into a completely different animal. Within minutes she could ravage a squeaky toy, completely demolish it, put a hole in the squeaker, pull all of the stuffing out and leave the toy lifeless and limp on the floor. To watch her do this was quite funny actually, she would attack it, bite it until she found the squeaker and then she would squeak, squeak, squeak it until she made a small tear in the casing. Then, she would grab the toy and shake it – not just with her head, but with her whole body. After that she would grab the toy between her two front paws and rip and tear and chomp and shake again until she had gotten the thing open. Once the ‘belly’ was exposed, she’d dig deep and pull stuffing after stuffing after more stuffing until finally the squeaker became free at which point she would bite it until it ‘died’.

On those days, we called Rosie “Tenacious B”.

I’ve been reminded of Tenacious B while I’ve been out on sales calls these last few days and I realize that I learned a lot from my little dog. 

When it comes to getting yourself in front of a customer or closing the deal, it really pays to be tenacious. I left corporate America six months ago thinking that it would be easy to pick up clients.  I had a good reputation, had done great work for clients in the past, had a ton of contacts, etc… I was a little unprepared for what I really needed to be successful in my ‘new job’. The skill set that you need as an entrepreneur is decidedly different than the one you’ve developed as an ‘employee’. Learning how to do The Hustle is paramount. And you can’t just do The Hustle once; you have to keep doing it again and again and again. But sometimes you get tired, or feel a little dejected, or question whether these potential clients are even getting your emails or your phone calls. And that’s when you have to dig deep and tap into your inner Tenacious B. 

I’ve been courting one old client of mine since the day that I left corporate America and finally, last Friday, they gave me an opportunity to put together a proposal for a new project for them. I had a week to prepare (when typically it would take a few weeks to put something like what they were asking for together). And it was a total long shot – they were asking four other companies to bid on the project as well. I could have taken the easy way out. I could have declined. I could have put something together and sent it via email or followed-up with a phone call. And that's normally what I would have done because that's what I'm comfortable with.

But being an entrepreneur isn't about being 'comfortable' and building a business requires that you push yourself beyond your own envelope. Getting this piece of business was important to me. It not only represented income, but more importantly, it was a good strategic client that I could have on my roster and it was with people that I really liked working with. So I did what Rosie would do. I went after my squeaky toy and flew out to LA.

But as the entrepreneur with nothing to lose who looked at this trip as an investment in my business, I didn’t just stop there. I booked my flight with a stopover in San Francisco so I could visit a client’s booth at their biggest convention of the year and meet some of the team face-to-face for the first time.

And I didn’t stop there either. I sent a note out to another old client who had relocated to a new company out West to see if we could catch up and ended up meeting with her and another person on her brand team.

All told, I saw nine people who could potentially work with my company either now or in the future. And it wasn’t that scary. Once I made the decision to fly out to LA, I had nothing to lose by trying to pack in as many customer visits as possible. And they say that for every nine ‘No’s’ you get one ‘Yes’. So if that’s the case, I’ve already guaranteed my next deal!

So, I just advise you when it comes to sales and new customer acquisition, be ferocious.  Be a Tenacious B.