At the start, everything seemed to be very official. The talks about the client’s requirements were clear and their goals well-articulated. I took noticed that the CEO we were dealing with truly enjoyed talking. He would throw us a question and in a matter of seconds jump in and give his views before we could answer. He loved the sound of his own voice and would go on for hours on end talking.
He also had this habit of calling people ‘idiots’ especially if they don’t see eye to eye on a topic. To his credit, he was well read and had good views on a number of topics.
Our proposal seemed to be moving smoothly along until one day this 57 year old CEO asked a 23 year old colleague of mine if they had chemistry. He even asked her to jump ship. A hint was thrown in the mix that someday she may become the head of one of his companies. My colleague saw through his intentions and politely replied that theirs would only be friendship at best.
After his rejection, all the roadblocks started popping up. This CEO started criticizing everything. Instead of reviewing the content of our proposal, he started laying out his own format. He started bad mouthing executives in my company. He started questioning the cost which he did not mind in the beginning of the talks. He said our cost was too high and when we did not budge he moved forward anyway.
With all his arrogance, one thing he forgot, we can always fire our customer. If he is a Prima Dona now, then working with him will immerse my team into a living hell. Was it worth it? Of course not. I fired off a polite email saying that due to recent events that came to my attention we will not have the time or resource to take on his project. I also offered to provide him the contact details of leading animation companies in the country.
I remembered a book I read that talked about the velvet rope policy. You only let clients that are a delight to work with past the velvet rope and into your business. Kudos to the author.