Do You Have The Guts To Turn Down Business?
It was a really good offer. A pretty big client. It wasn’t going to be a lot of travel, it was going to pay well, and the workshop content was right up my alley.
The “ask” from the prospect was this: “Can you come in and help this executive team go deeper into leading through change, and give some practical steps on how to do that?”
I said, “sure…that’s one of the main things I do.” I told the prospect what I thought was the best solution for a half-day, intensive workshop. It would tee up some principles, and it would be backed up by story, science, and leadership academia; and we would top it off with some very practical action steps to move with tangible “to-do’s” (as opposed to just being another “check the box on the leadership workshop at the leadership retreat”).
We agreed to bring me in.
I did the workshop.
The result?
It paid well.
It was easy.
It was in my wheelhouse.
I don’t think it was very helpful.
It was, if I had to grade it, a B-
It’s not because the leadership content wasn’t good. It’s because I didn’t solve their pain point. It’s just not exactly what they needed.
Before I go on, let’s talk about three things in brief order:
“Good” is not “Great.” I never…I mean, I NEVER want to go into a project or client relationship thinking it’s going to be anything but great. I don’t mean that as “I’m great!” I mean that as the solution we are going to give to the client is going to be incredibly helpful FOR THEM. It’s going to be great FOR THEM. And, in the process, that will make RethinkWork feel great about the work that we are doing.
The executive team that I did the workshop for? They were awesome. Yes. They were a professional and congenial team to work with. I gave myself a B-, not them.
Candidly, I just didn’t dig deep enough to truly understand their pain point – and how I could provide the home run solution that would help. I wasn’t curious enough to keep digging in, hard, with what is the true challenge going on with them. I should have asked, further, where the gap is? Where are they stuck? What’s keeping them up at night? Where and why do they need a guide (a leadership/management consultant and coach) to help them get out of the quagmire? Why do they feel this isn’t something they can do on their own? Instead, I quickly teed up a solution that walks through “leadership and change management” and sold the prospect on it. I wasn’t trying to be manipulative; I just wasn’t being thorough. Or customer-centric. Or curious. Or, ultimately, as helpful as I wanted to be – nor as helpful as RethinkWork could actually be.
But as I was going through the workshop, I could feel/sense that my workshop wasn’t scratching the itch of the true need. I didn’t know exactly what the true need was, but I could tell that I wasn’t hitting the mark.
To be honest? I never got a bunch of negative feedback. Even though it was “okay” and not a home run, the customer never gave me pushback after the workshop was over.
BUT, I never felt good about it.
Man, I wish I could have a do-over.
I never…I mean, I NEVER will go into a project or client relationship unless I feel/know it’s going to be anything but hitting the mark on solving their true problem.
I learned my lesson.
Fast-forward months later, I had a prospect call with a potentially large client. To be candid, it would have been my biggest contract to date. I would have needed to deploy the entire team of RethinkWork. All seven consultants would be on this one project.
As I did the needs assessment with the executive team, I listened – deeply. I asked questions, deeper than before with previous prospects. I really wanted to understand their pain. But in the discussion where all of the key stakeholders were in the meeting, they were steering the conversation to the “solution” pretty quickly. A bit too quickly. They weren’t trying to control or force me into a proposed solution. They were, simply, wanting things in their business fixed. To be fixed quickly. And they are smart people. And they had a consultant/coach in the meeting that was there to guide them to fixing things. I think they were thinking, “we can all figure out the roadmap together, right now. Let’s do this.” In the moment, I got a bit ambitious and got onboard with that thinking. I laid out a high-level solution. We ended the meeting, and I committed to getting that high-level solution I had walked through in a written proposal by the close of business.
One of my teammates put together the proposal.
It was professional. Clean. Sharp. Good.
BUT, It wasn’t great. It wasn’t going to be super helpful. It wasn’t going to move the needle in a big way. It, to be blunt, wasn’t going to solve their true pain point. And, what was really a gift? I knew what their true pain point was. It had come out in our discussion. But in my zealousness and theirs, we accelerated the process to get to the solution too quickly. We bypassed putting the “problem” under the microscope and really examining what was going on.
Hours went by—over eight hours in total.
And there I was. Do I send the proposal that was huge for RethinkWork from a financial perspective? Do I give the prospect the solution they expect and feel good about?
I don’t feel anxious nor nauseous too often over work. Do I feel intense? Yes. I’m intense. I love my work. But I am not anxious.
I felt anxious about sending the proposal.
It was what the prospect wanted but It wasn’t going to be what the prospect needed.
It wasn’t going to solve their pain point. Not in a huge way, at least.
It was going against my gut to send it.
Grrr.
What do I do?
I never…I mean, I NEVER will go into a project or client relationship unless I feel/know it’s going to be anything but hitting the mark on solving their true problem.
I ditched the proposal. I sent a clear message to the top executive. I said, “this may not be what you want, but this is what you need based on what you are struggling with. It will be way less money for me and cheaper for you, but this will be way more helpful.”
Candidly, it doesn’t matter what the story's end is. Whether I won the business or not.
What matters is if I have – if we – have the guts to turn down the business when it’s not right? Do we have the courage to not give the customer what they want, but rather what they need? If we can be that honest with ourselves and our prospects, we are genuinely fighting for their highest possible good.