Time to Walk Away?

A colleague of mine wanted some help and so asked me for a meet up.  We agreed venue, date and time and I even had an Outlook invitation from him which I accepted! But, having re-arranged my diary to help out – I was just left sitting waiting because he had forgotten! Not a problem – things like this happen every now and again, but when it’s happened a few times before, it’s just not on!

So, my answer next time will be a big ‘No’.

We can all (well, most of us) be too accommodating but at some point enough is enough. It’s the same with customers, suppliers and colleagues. We all know that we have to ‘sell’ to customers; give them great service and exceed their expectations, but just how far does that go?

How many times during the sales process, do you pitch and then re-pitch; attend client meetings again and again; prepare quotes, tenders then re-quotes etc.  and still not get a positive or definitive answer? Some business experts say that “for every ‘no’ you receive you are one step closer to a ‘yes’”.

But when it’s neither a yes nor a no, how long do you hang on in the sales process? There just comes a time when the client either takes advantage, is incompetent, selfish or is just trying to drive the price too low; then you just need to walk away.

It’s always interesting to see their reaction and it never ceases to amaze me that suddenly they can make a decision or speed up or decide to give you the ‘no’ answer.

It’s also very liberating to decide to walk away – and nothing wrong with saying ‘no’ to a client. If nothing else if you stop chasing a loser you will have more free time to go and win some other business.

What happened when you walked away from a sale?