Efficient.

So it's nearly the next day already, and I'm still mulling over in my head what exactly I should do.

My plan up to this point has been to drive up to North Florida, to both Jasper and Madison to call on some clients that I haven't been to in a while. Of course, the thing about seeing clients that you haven't been to in a while is that you have to first remember why you haven't been there for so long, and then try to determine how you can rectify that without it being a mildly awkward situation.

This is my dilemma. Today, in our meeting with a nearby community college, we were able to utilize some very effective handouts in order to nail down a message that we were trying to send to the client. It worked very well. For the places that I've been planning to go tomorrow, I also have handouts and reports that might be effective if I'm able to actually sit down with someone. The trouble is that I don't have them organized and ready to go like I should at this point. They're mostly conceptual, and they're completely in my head.

All of this is coupled with the fact that the drive with take me, in total, over seven hours to get all the way out there and back again. That's a haul. I could drive to Atlanta in that amount of time. I could drive to Pensacola by then. I could watch an entire season of a sitcom on DVD. This is all with the very distinct possibility that, when I get out there, I'll be unable to get a meeting with any of the people that I'll be dropping in on, and I'll have done all of that driving and smiling for nothing. It's the classic case against cold calling.

Now, on the other hand, I could still attempt to set appointments with the targets that I'm aiming at by simply giving them a call. However, as experience has taught me, it's much harder for someone to turn you down in person than it is over the phone. A phone call is less personal, easier to distance yourself from the other end, easier to terminate with nothing more than the push of a button. They don't have to stand there awkwardly and tell me that they're not interested, looking in my sad blue eyes for any hint of understanding. All they have to do is say it coldly and callously, hoping that I'll never make that seven-hour round trip to darken their doorstep. At the same time, it may be as simple as saying, "Hi, so-and-so, I know we haven't spoken for a while, but I'm planning to be around your area next week, and I was wondering if we could set a time for us to catch up on what's going on with you," and getting an appointment.

I'd like to say that my prime and only concern is efficiency, and to a point, it is. I don't want to waste an entire day sitting in the car only to get doors shut in my face once I get to where I'm going, only to have to turn around and drive all the way back. It's not efficient whatsoever. But that's only half of it. The other half is rejection. If I'm going to get turned down for a meeting, my thinking is that I'm going to be turned down either way: if I'm standing there or if I'm on the other end of the phone. Most superintendents or finance directors or anyone important enough to meet with have a secretary. And when those people don't want to meet with you? All they have to do is let the secretary be the bad guy and tell you that they're busy, or they're in a meeting, or they're on a call that won't be done for a long, long time. Probably through lunch, which they bring their own, so they won't let you take them out anywhere. After that, they have a full day of more meetings and conference calls, so it's probably best if you just come back in January. Yes, next January. Thanks!

So for the sake of efficiency, I think I'm going to avoid the whole song and dance with the gatekeeper and do things a different way. Besides, if I want to drive somewhere to hear "no," there are plenty of places around here that can get the job done!