The Ship that Didn’t Sail
Sometimes, even though you know you could help a prospect, they don’t feel the same way. This is one of those stories about my inability to create alignment with a business leader.
I was referred to a yacht brokerage by the CEO of CITY Furniture and after a few months was able to set up a meeting with their CEO. We seemed aligned around my approach and soon he invited me to visit him at his business during one of my upcoming trips to Florida.
We met for dinner the evening before the official visit. He brought his second in command along and we quickly found common ground and shared stories about past work and personal adventures. When dinner was over, we parted ways and I was excited at the possibilities of helping a company who was focused on something I had zero experience with: yacht sales brokering. My only experience with yachting is the old Looney Tunes cartoon, where Bugs Bunny convinces Elmer Fudd that he’s “Elmer J. Fudd, millionaire, who owns a mansion and a yacht.”
The next morning, I met the CEO at his office, and he introduced me to his staff. Throughout the day, I had meaningful conversations with many of the people who worked there and learned about the biggest pain points they were facing. These included:
The lack of overall aligning metrics across the business – how did they know if they were winning?
The complexity and length of time it took to close a yacht sale – many of these transactions included more than one country, which multiplied the effort immensely.
Utilizing the in-house resources to identify and solve problems – this business was family operated and run by a few trusted executives. Others did their work to the best of their ability but didn’t get to make empowered decisions or changes.
I knew I could help, if only I could convince the CEO he could cede control of some critical decisions and let his employees be part of the improvement efforts.
He seemed interested and by the end of the day showed what I thought was a desire to operate his business differently in the future. We left with a plan to reconnect and develop a path forward.
Except that it never happened. I stayed in touch with the CEO for a while, but then realized my approach wasn’t aligned with his vision of how work should get accomplished. Even though he never told me directly, I knew he wouldn’t pursue further meetings with me. It would have been a huge leap of faith for him, and my image of continuous improvement couldn’t overcome years of management-engrained behaviors.
My approach isn’t for everyone. I have to understand that even though I know I can help many of the prospects I visit, they don’t always see it the same way as I do. Maybe I’ll get on a yacht one of these days. It would be fun to pretend to be “Elmer J. Fudd, millionaire.” Until then, I’ll continue to navigate the seas of change for clients, steering them in new and unchartered directions, knowing that if they’re willing, I can help bring them to a great destination.