I have an Australian friend who is a brilliant people-connecter and marketer. He told me a true story about a client of his who was seeking venture capital for a new business idea that he had.
My friend spoke to one of his contacts and arranged a meeting with a very wealthy individual.
I’ll let him tell the story in his own words…
The meeting started off on a really good note as both my client and the investor discovered they were avid supporters of the same football team.
After a few moments chatting and ‘breaking the ice’ we started to look at the business proposal.
The investor was asking lots of questions and obviously liked what he was hearing.
I remember sitting there and thinking to myself: “Things just couldn’t possibly be going any better if we tried!”
The investor got up to use the rest room and my client asked me: “What do you think?”
I smiled and said: “Just keep answering his questions and I think everything will be fine…”
In fact, I was absolutely positive that a deal was in the making. Both parties obviously seemed to hit it off really well.
On a personal note, I was mentally thinking of the ways I was going to spend my ‘Finders Fee’ a considerable amount considering my client was asking for $1 Million dollars.
But it was than that absolute disaster struck…
My client was obviously feeling super confident and he suggested we move to some more comfortable chairs to continue the discussion.
We did and then, a few moments later, he sat back in his seat and crossed his legs, putting one foot on his knee.
It was then that I saw something that made my heart sink…
He Had a Hole on the Bottom Of His Shoe
and the Moment The Investor Saw it,
His Credibility Was Shot to Pieces…
Suddenly, it felt as if you could have cut the atmosphere with a knife.
My client who was oblivious to what had happened looked at the investor and said: “Is everything okay mate?”
I remember it like it was yesterday as the guy who moments before had been looking at investing $1 Million dollars in my clients business looked at him and replied:
“No mate. Everything ISN’T okay. You are asking me to invest $1 Million Dollars in your business and until 60 seconds ago I was definitely going ahead. But you tell me – would YOU feel comfortable about giving a bloke a check for a million dollars who shows up to a business meeting with a hole in his shoe?”
And with that he got up, nodded to me and walked out.
My client has literally lost a million dollars through a stupid hole in his shoe!
It’s a pretty gut-wrenching story, isn’t it?
To be honest, it is something I have seen happen way more times than I care to remember.
Oh I don’t mean seeing people lose business through having a hole in their shoes.
I mean through having unprofessional, tacky-looking photographs of themselves and their team members when people visit their website.
Truth be known, it is most likely responsible for more lost business than we can think or imagine.
And the crazy thing is that it is so easy to fix.
Isn’t it about time that you booked your professional headshot?
Use the simple form here…
