Introduction by Audition

The most helpful 2 hours I’ve given away this year.

It started with a call from an associate I had worked with several years ago. He is now selling services with a group that does a lot of work in embedded systems. One of their prior customers was having an issue with their data center, and he wanted to know if I would be able to help. It wasn’t his company’s core service, but it would help his relationship with that customer. They needed a MacGyver.

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“What do you know about…”

We talked about the job at hand and the skills needed. When we got around to how my experience and knowledge fit the requirements, I was honest in saying that I didn’t have direct experience with some of the technologies mentioned. Eagar to get my foot in the door and possibly learn something new, I ended with, “I’m willing to give an hour of my time to them to figure out if I can help. If so, great; if not, that’s the way it goes.” That seemed to clinch it and we quickly set up a meeting with the client.

They did what?

We arrived on schedule, and another consultant was also there. The client had been trying for more than 2 weeks to get the problem corrected, and he outlined the situation to me. The existing environment was intricately setup, but less than fully documented, and the previous support personnel were not available. It looked like a good challenge.

I added to my previous offer and told them that I’d be happy to spend a couple hours investigating the specifics of the situation with the other consultant to see where it would go. The client agreed and I ended up leaving four hours later with a bunch of information floating through my head.

Sleeping on it is a good thing

I have always done better with some sleep on a new topic and this time was no different. I returned the next day eager to get back into the technology and setup. By lunchtime, I tracked down the problem and had their system working again. By the end of the day, the changes were documented and put into production. The offer of two hours of free time led to a full day’s worth of paid work.

Given others had been on site over the previous two weeks, the client had been skeptical, and perhaps unwilling to risk agreeing to the work with no fix in sight. As it worked out, I solved the problem in such short order that the sale was conducted almost entirely in the past tense, as in “You’ll pay Steve for his time yesterday and today, right?”

Not over yet

But that wasn’t the end of it. Before leaving that day the client outlined other current issues they had and said – “You’ll be here tomorrow, right?”

Two full weeks later I’m still returning to the client and he’s still bringing up new things for me to look into and fix.

Giving First – at a personal level

This is just another example of the theory of Give First Economics and how it can apply to you personally.

Yes, I had to be in a position to succeed, to have the skills and knowledge to get the job done. But I don’t think I would have been given the chance if I didn’t offer to give them the two hours first.