Victory is Sweet!

The prospect: a major health care organization in Orange County, California.
The client: a cabling provider.
The prospect was planning a 500 employee office/call center—a huge opportunity for my client. When I called, I was told, “We’ve already spoken to several cabling vendors and will make our choice from among them. In any case, the project is being handled by our IT director in our Colorado office. If you send me your information I’ll pass it along and if she’s interested she will contact you”.
Knowing full well that this would be an exercise in futility, I looked up the company’s Colorado number and got through to their IT department. The person I reached was female so I knew I had the right contact. She confirmed what I’d been told: they had already met with some cabling vendors and would choose from among the proposals already received. I responded, “We have some of the finest client references in Southern California. I would like to email you our references and a link to our website. All I ask is that you take a few minutes to review our references and have a look at our site”. She agreed to do that and sent me an email confirming receipt of my email.
I had planned on giving her 5 days before following up but, to my great surprise, she called me 2 days later at 8 am. “Hello, I’ve reviewed your references and they are really outstanding. I’ll be flying to California next week, can one of your people meet with me at the job site?” Of course, I scheduled the meeting immediately.
The result? Our client booked the job—a $500,000 piece of business. The takeaway—never rely on a third party to deliver your pitch for you. Get the decision-maker on the phone and work that person as hard as you can, always.