Emotional Intelligence

If my life could be split into chapters it would be : School, University, First Job, Intro to fashion, Birth of SB, Graduation, Agency Life, and this new chapter I am  exploring is called: Dealing with Investors.

In a recent branding workshop conducted by Obai and Hill’s new consultant Safiya Khonji, my team and I gathered in the training room where she did a whole presentation on the science and art of customer management. Whilst walking us through her experiences as working from the client side, and from working with most of the agencies in the country, we discussed the importance of emotional intelligence when dealing with clients.

I am also realizing the importance of that when dealing with investors and how different it is when dealing with clients or customers.

Some of my new found

1. It is a process: When landing a client the process is easier because ours services are clear and our agency follows a key step by step guide that include: 1. Consulting with the client 2. preparing a brief 3. signing the brief 4. preparing the proposal presenting the pitch / proposal 6. making changes 7. proceeding with the work. With investors and projects, there are too many variables to control and you go along with the pace of your investors. It can take up to a year to close an investment deal.

2. You don’t know the steps: Every investor is different and does things in a different way. even though clients are all different from each other, what we offer is a set of services that we know and understand who to deliver. With investors, its about gaining trust, and developing a relationship, and taking that leap.

3. It is a lot of work: To be able to sell the concept, a great deal of tailored research, presentations, analysis, and financial data has to be submitted. This information has to be tailored on a daily basis for the person you are speaking too. They might want less presentation, more financial data, they might want less data, more research, they might want to see you over three or 4 sessions, they might want to cater the plan or give advice on business model. It is a lot of give and take and you must be willing to push and pull cleverly over the duration  of the investment.

4. It is a marathon. There is compromise, there is argue, you must be able to deal with negative banter, and harsh comments, and you are always trying to prove yourself. over an over again till the day the partnership ends. Lots of mental strength is to be involved, loads of energy, and lots of positivity.

5. It has to fit like a glove. If you are idea is young and fresh, and your investors are old school and don’t ‘get it’ then you are with the wrong crowd. Shop around for the right person that understands your vision, and will be able to add value to your concept.