One day I received this call little late in the evening. It was from a Founder CEO of an IT start-up company. He started by saying – Hi! you may not remember me; you have shared an email with me 12 months back offering your recruitment services.
Of course, I was not remembering.
He continued to say that there was something about your message that has connected with me and I have preserved it. I am reaching out to you now because there are some hiring needs now.
The conversation continued and we decided to meet the immediate next day in the afternoon around 2.00 pm.
The meeting started on time. He shared about his company, his background, the work that they do, and the way forward for them and also what he is expecting from us.
Then I shared my background, our team, our approach, our clientele and our terms. Also, what support we may need from them and I also clarified few points about the requirement, selection process, budget, challenges etc.
We concluded our meeting and agreed to work together. While we were concluding our session, client said I noticed one thing that you were not saying anything to sell your services, in fact you gave me all the reasons why I should not be working with you.
I find that unusual, and you have been very straight, honest and practical – this really helps me rely on you and I am confident about our success. I guess I could sense this in the mail you shared one year back with me – and now I know why I remembered you.
We have a fruitful work relationship till date and he has referred multiple clients to me since then.
This experience reinforces in me the fact that how by being vulnerable you remain your authentic self which leads to a genuine partnerships and relationships.
My mentors tell me that this is also a good coach like quality. Hmmm