Always have a backup. . .
Most of my clients prefer to meet virtually, it saves travel time and costs while still allowing us to get things done. That said, I do offer in person days and have a location away from the 3 dogs and 4 cats in which to host them.
So when a client called for an in person half day, I was thrilled. She’s been a partner for years and we’ve never met in person.
My Team called up my local conference hotel to find that they’re under renovation. They contacted 3 more to find the same thing (apparently winter in Massachusetts is a great time for hotel renovation) and I was stood up by a sales rep at a different hotel – the one we’d found which has space and isn’t under renovation.
Then. . .waiting at the bank counter on Saturday, a stranger and I strike up a conversation. He’s a carpenter who took on a second job at a local hotel which offers event space (one I hadn’t thought of).
Want to guess which hotel we’ll be at?
Lessons learned:
- Always have a backup – even for meeting space
- Always have a system – I have a list of “must haves” for meeting space so it made it easy for my Team to research without involving me until a site visit was needed and
- Always be open to possibility – wouldn’t have expected a meeting space referral to come from a carpenter in the bank.
And this one is preferable to my usual spot.
What backup or support systems do you have, or need? I’d love to hear below.