Entering The (Prospecting) Cave of Wonders (Issue 816)

In which we discuss the opportunities and dangers in calling business prospects before business hours or on weekends and holidays.

Do you remember Disney’s animated movie, “Aladdin”?

I thought not. One of my favorites, however.

Never mind Aladdin and virgin Princess -Whatever-Her-Name-Was and that stupid “A Whole New World” musical number. THIS movie is about “the Genie” (Robin Williams at his finest) and one of my favorite cartoon villains, Jafar. Yes, yes, I know, he’s the standard Disney dark heart, but I like him.

But, best of all, there’s the Cave of Wonders, filled with gold and jewels, and location of “the lamp” that Aladdin seeks.

The entrance to the cave appears as the mouth of an enormous black leopard (sure, you find those in the desert every day, right? The enormous ones?) who sleeps until awakened, at which point his head rises from the sands and he growls, “Who disturbs my slumberrrr?” (See at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTc6cBWhqvw ). And the supplicant had better have a good answer or dark-and-scary things follow quickly.

In the prospecting desert, the theory goes, early mornings, after working hours, and weekends can be good times to reach executives or business owners by telephone No gate keepers at the desk. No meetings scheduled. Perfect…

Saturday morning hours are like gold to me – four hours of uninterrupted thinking and writing time in the man-cave, a chance to put the week in perspective, plan the upcoming week, and think about strategic and operational stuff I can’t get to during normal business hours.

Last Saturday, my office phone rang at 10:15 am. I could see it wasn’t my family (who know better than to call me during this time, they send text messages). I recognized the area code but not the phone number.

“Hi, Nick, it’s Roman,” the voice said, cheerily. “Being the diligent business owner you are, I thought I might find you at your desk. Good morning!”

“Who disturbs my slumberrrr?” The entrance to the after hours Cave of Wonders does not stay open very long or suffer fools gladly. Best to have a REALLY good reason to call and best to get to it quickly.

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