From Cow to Client

You can predict and guess and target as much as you’d like, but you never really know where a client is going to come from.

One of our recent contracts had nothing to do with our marketing efforts, a little to do with a cow, and a whole lot to do with the character of the people here at the shop.

It all started one chilly evening in November when our marketing strategist and CRM guru, Ryan, was heading home from work. He was driving along a small two lane road when he spotted a big ol’ brown cow standing in the ditch. The ditch was shallow, and at any moment the cow could have wandered right onto the road.

As Ryan drove past, it crossed his mind that things could turn bad quickly for both the cow and any passing vehicle if she stepped into traffic. That thought alone was enough to make him slow down, pull over, and look for the gate to the property she had wandered from.

He fiddled with the gate for a moment before it swung open with a groan. After a series of claps, stomps, and some determined arm flapping, the cow was safely corralled back into the field where she belonged.

But the story doesn’t stop there. There was a large hole in the fence, and it didn’t take much imagination to realize the cow would probably be right back out again if nobody handled it. So what did Ryan do?

There was a sign on the gate with a phone number for the internet company that had a tower on the property. Ryan called the number and explained the situation: the cow, the fence, the whole shebang. He asked if they could notify the property owner. They said they would give him a call.

At that point, it was out of his hands, so Ryan drove home for dinner.

Later that evening, his phone rang from an unknown number. It was the property owner. He was kind, grateful, and explained that he rented the land to a local rancher. He asked Ryan for the details so he could get the fence repaired and prevent any more cow escapes. He also mentioned he was in California at the time but would be back in town the following week and wanted to meet Ryan in person to shake his hand. Ryan agreed.

The next week they met outside the historic building that used to be our office. They shook hands, exchanged a few kind words, and somewhere in the conversation it came up that Ryan worked here at Fidelis.

The property owner paused for a moment. Then he told Ryan something unexpected. Our services were exactly what he had been looking for. Completely unrelated to the cow, he needed branding and marketing support for a new development project in town.

Ryan handed him a business card and, long story short, they went through our Brand Workshop last week. We are now developing their visual assets.

Moral of the story:

You never know where the next client is going to come from. 

Sometimes all it takes is going out of your way to do the right thing.