Future-proofing: the search for definite solutions to undefined problems

Yesterday I was invited to pitch to a new client.  The opportunity arose because a woman I've worked with previously has just joined the company.  So I arrived knowing that my bona fides were already established and, because my contact has an intimate knowledge of what I do, I assumed I was in the room because of an identified need that I might be able to address.

I was half-right.

Everyone agreed that they had an immediate need for the sort of training that I offer but it wasn't enough.  Another larger, unarticulated issue loomed over the meeting and I struggled to identify it before we wrapped up.  What they were looking for was a promise that my current products would help their sales teams succeed in ten years time regardless of any and all changes to the market, sales environment, team configuration or product mix.  They wanted me to promise that my work was future-proof.

The best I could do was offer to work with them to define all these longer-term issues and then explore solutions.  Perhaps some adaptation of what I currently offer will be what's needed but right now I don't know enough to make that promise.  As I left it was clear that this wasn't what they wanted to hear.

Maybe the next supplier they see will be confident enough to promise them what they need.  Or maybe he'll just all the right noises in order to get his foot in the door.

I'm not sure if I won or lost yesterday.