Be ready to lose early!

Recently I encountered a situation where a prospect was referred to me bay a member of a local chamber of commerce.  The person in question was also in attendance of several networking groups I am involved with.  I have, on more than one occasion, enjoyed conversations of a personal and business nature with this person.

This referred prospective client began completing a Client Need Assessment with me, but, because they were presently working with one of our competitors, they asked me to wait several months to complete the Client Need Analysis.  I touched basis with them over the span of weeks and months which followed, and at every juncture when I would touch bases with them, they assured me that when that final month rolled around, we would take an honest an impartial look at what my company can do to help theirs.

When that final month rolled around, the referred prospect told me that they had decided to: “…stick it out with the company they have grown to know, like, and trust…”, I immediately saw the situation for what it was, and rather than getting into a back and forth regarding operating from a space of integrity where you do what you say and at least have an impartial review, instead, I decided that I would disengage any further contact and move on.

I let the referred prospect know that while I valued the opportunity to work with his company, that I certainly respect the decision to stay loyal to a company, even in light of superior pricing and other services my company would provide.  Additionally, I let them know that with such loyalty we encourage them to maintain that relationship, and I wished them well.

By all accounts it would be fair to assume that I had dodged a bullet, because a prospect that is going to string you along for months only to tell you at the last moment that they have no intention of looking at your numbers – is a prospect who, had they become a client, may have proven very challenging to work with over the life of their account.  One might even assume that I had taken a potential ‘negative’ situation and turned it around for the possibility of a future ‘positive’ to come of it.

One could have no rational or reasonable way of knowing that the referred prospect had copy and pasted sentences from my private business email to them, and then had selectively posted these to social media in order to mock and poke fun at their distorted meaning.

Neither could one expect that, when I went to them and explained that, to take a sincere expression of good will in closing their file, and post it to social media, that I believed it was in bad form to resort to such measures.  Mainly on the grounds that such action could only be perceived as malicious, at best and at worst - juvenile, that the referred prospect would then, stewing over my calling them on their professional integrity, email the entire chain of communication to every single member of leadership at my company, in what I must imagine was a furious effort to have me disciplined. 

Despite a flowery and verbose diatribe regarding how “passive aggressive” I had been, despite the fact that I had avoided becoming engaged in some long, drawn out, back and forth with this person, and only wished them well and dismissed them – it was made clear that their psychoanalysis really amounted to little more than projection.  Their own action in posting our private business emails on social media is not only the epitome of “passive aggression”, but also, since this person is the owner of a start up IT Managed Solutions company, these are also the questionable actions of someone who should not be handling people’s private information or computer servers.

I am glad that they did, however, resort to these measures, because it gave me an opportunity to see this for what it truly is – an opportunity to learn to deal with difficult people, and to hone my sales skills.

As Jon Spence writes in his book, “Awesomely Simple” one should be prepared to “lose early”.  In my case I should have identified the dysfunctional behavior early on and avoided buying into this person’s assurances that we just needed to give it some time and follow up in several months.  After all, why should it take several months to look at a proposal that is likely to save your company profound amounts of money? 

It also gave the leadership in my company the opportunity to see that I work diligently to help my prospects make the best buying decision possible, while urging them to maintain accountability in the process.  I don’t take “no” for an answer when it is a brush off tactic by someone, but I shake hands and part friends when doing business together simply does not make sense for either or both parties.

And lastly, it helped clarify for me and for all that I am passionate about the company I work for and the services we provide.  I believe so strongly in our company and services that I evangelize at every opportunity to build better and stronger relationships and help to rebuild our economy by helping one business at a time to better thrive and grow.

In the final equation, my only recommendation to anyone in a similar situation is to act and speak from integrity and let the person know that you intend to move forward to formalizing a relationship or to move forward toward understanding why the prospect is not the right fit for the company.  Learn to lose early – let go as soon as it is clear that any victory will be a pyrrhic victory.  By taking this honest approach, in either eventuality, both parties win. 

James Chamberlain is a sales and business development professional who helps Tampa Bay businesses grow through dynamic strategic initiatives and campaigns and increase of new business revenue.   James is responsible for building relationships with businesses throughout Florida and the US. Contact James at: 352.354.2273 james.chamberlain@consultant.com or http://www.twitter.com/JDC352.