Go the extra mile

I had been working to close a significant amount of business with a customer for a while. I've spoken at length about how important face-to-face meetings are in physical trading and this time was no different. However, the customer in question was extremely tough to pin down. I knew that if I could get in front of him for even 5 minutes I'd be able to secure the business.

"𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘭𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘴, 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘣 𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘢𝘭"

"𝘋𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳, 𝘩𝘢, 𝘐'𝘮 𝘧𝘭𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬, 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘞𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘊𝘰𝘢𝘴𝘵, 𝘕𝘦𝘸 𝘖𝘳𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴, 𝘕𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦, 𝘚𝘵. 𝘓𝘰𝘶𝘪𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐'𝘮 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘈𝘵𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢."

"𝘈𝘵𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵, 𝘐 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘰 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘣𝘪𝘯𝘦. 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘴, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘯?"

I did not have another client, I was flying 1600 miles round-trip for a 10-minute airport coffee! But I didn't want him heading off to Europe where I knew there was a risk our deal went stale, and he would be sent new offers on a daily basis. I also knew he wouldn't accept the meeting if he thought he was causing me hassle...sometimes a little white lie is necessary.

That 10 minute meeting helped set up the entire book for the next few months.

Trading is about taking calculated risks, but it's also about not letting an opportunity slip because you didn't try everything you could. Whether it's putting in the extra effort to get in front of that busy customer, the extra bit of research you do that puts you ahead of your competitors, or learning something new that gives you a new edge.