I'm just home from the Targa Tasmania car rally, in which three people tragically died. My sympathies go out to the family and friends of those who lost their lives doing something they loved.
In the last 48 hours, I've had time to reflect on my own Targa experience. It is important to note, I was not involved in the professional Competiton section of the race, but in the amateur Touring section, with an enforced 120kmph speed limit and no overtaking allowed. I still felt the thrill of the race but was conscious at every step of the safety elements and the importance of my navigator.
The navigator's role was crucially important. Having a second person to manage the risk was incredibly valuable. We'd prepare ahead of each day's racing, poring over the maps, trying to identify the biggest risks and looking for opportunities to improve our pace when it was safe to do so. During each leg of the rally, my navigator gave me advance instructions about dangers that might lay ahead, in time for me to adjust my speed or my direction. And at the end of the day, we'd celebrate over dinner and talk about the day's excitement.
And that brings me to the role of the second person you should take to every business development meeting.
Having a second set of eyes and ears in a BD meeting is a safety measure, first and foremost. It enables you to respond to a client question, while your 'navigator' thinks about the next turn in the conversation. While you are talking, your colleague should be thinking about the next question, the gaps in your information at that point, how to move the conversation to the place you'd hope it would go, moving to appropriate action. And when the client is talking, you have two people watching their body language, assessing their intent to act, monitoring the 'temperature' of the room. Double the value!
Most valuable of all is having someone with you to share the risks and rewards. In a business development sense, this means helping with the preparation (anticipating difficult questions and imagining a worthwhile response) and being there to help you answer those questions as they arise. It means having a second 'brain' at hand to help you if you should freeze. Or to help you not 'hog the road' by talking too much! It means having someone with your best interests at heart sitting alongside you in what can be a nervous moment.
And most important of all, it means having someone who can celebrate the wins with you and someone to blame for the losses! No, sorry, that's not right :) And having someone who can commiserate when it doesn't work out, and help you improve on the next leg of the race. That's better.
So today's tip is obvious - take a navigator to every race and have as much fun as you can together.