30. Being Unavailable

I've sort of posted a bit of this before somewhere else, but I doubt you'll have read it, and anyway just chalk it up to the fact that I'm getting much better at recycling.

The trouble with the we-know-where-you-live-and-what-you-just-searched-for digital advertising world is that there’s a huge assumption we are available.

Knowing when people are supposedly ready to act encourages you to cut to the chase and miss a few steps in the conversion process along the way.

No shame in cheating. I'm a big fan of cutting corners.

But even if you know when someone is ready to purchase or change, I’ve always thought it’s best to believe they aren’t. That way you work harder to make sure they are, and do.

Desire drives action. You create desire with scarcity; by being unavailable. We all want something we can’t have.

No-one plays the game better than Chris.

When he lets the dogs out it’s wise to stand back.

Years ago we were working on a project and Chris had leaped in. I had wondered out loud how great it would be if we could get meetings with the heads of our largest corporates at some stage, which was all the encouragement Chris needed.

Often, he needed far less.

I figured it was wishful thinking on my part really, you don’t get meetings with people who can say ‘yes’ easily or quickly. There are also gatekeepers to go through, usually PA’s or EA’s, and you go round them at your peril.

‘Right’ said Chris and hung up the phone. But not for long. Within a few hours he was back on the talking stick, and the meetings were on the books. The first was set for less than a week away.

"How did you get in so quickly?" I asked, knowing what diaries can be like.

"I said we needed a meeting to update progress, and we’d be available next Friday." Chris replied.

The PA asked if her boss would know what the project was about.

"Know what it’s about?" Chris said, with just the right amount of incredulity "They’re in it."