There's a story I like to tell about the time I flew to Geneva to attend a conference that my #1 target client was speaking at, just so I could “accidentally” bump into him and try to arrange a meeting.

One the one hand it's a success story. I did indeed bump into that potential client and we did agree to have a meeting a few weeks later.

It's the kind of story macho salespeople like to tell about how far they're prepared to go to do what's needed to win clients.

But it's also a story of failure.

Although I ended up meeting the client, at our meeting the client told me that they intended to do a big project with someone else.

It was a project my firm at the time could easily have done. And we had a track record of successful work with them. But they had already decided to go with a competitor.

Had the competitor “out worked” me and gone to even further lengths to get their meeting?

Not a bit of it. They'd done the opposite.

Instead of spending their time chasing after clients desperately trying to get meetings to persuade them they could help them, they invested their time in building their intellectual property and positioning themselves as deep experts in what they did.

My client called them to ask for a meeting, not vice versa.

That makes a massive difference.

It was a much easier path for them to convince the client they were the right people to work with. In fact, they didn't really need to do any convincing. It was more a matter of confirming that they'd be a good fit for working together and agreeing on the plan.

Meanwhile, I was still desperately trying various backdoor routes to getting a meeting.

It was a big lesson for me.

Back then, the way to establish yourself as an expert was to write a book or get out on the conference circuit and do presentations.

These days it's much, much easier. There are a lot more ways of reaching the right clients for you – if you have something interesting and valuable to say.

The same principles apply, but more so. Getting your clients to come to you is 10x more effective than jumping on a plane to Geneva hoping to bump into them and persuade them to meet you.

And the best way to do it is to become seen as an Authority in your field.