What?
If you read my title and went HUH? then I know one thing for sure. Either you are not an entrepreneur or you haven’t been in the start-up game very long.
The first time I heard a guy say this was in a classroom at Kellogg. Having come from multi-billion dollar companies, I thought he was nuts. He was an entrepreneur..and by very definition…he had to be a little nuts.
Having now left the huge corporate world and started a company myself, I reflected on his statement: “A fast no is as good as a yes”. Funny thing is – it makes perfect sense now.
When you are a smaller company, your most valuable asset, and the one you can’t afford to waste, is your time. It’s a finite resource. No amount of money or influence can put extra hours back on the clock. For this reason, how you spend your time must be very focused.
When you are selling, you only have so many hours in the day to pursue a huge number of potential customers. The worst thing a potential customer can do is drag you along for months and then say “Thanks but no thanks”. I don’t blame them – they don’t even realize all the time you spent wooing them is now gone and can’t be retrieved. What’s worse is your opportunity cost – the time you should have spent pursuing valid leads is also gone!
So, if you work at a large company and you encounter a small business, please remember one thing: A fast no is as good as a yes. The business owner will thank you.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
I agree! Great post. The same concept applies to recruiting and countless other jobs. If you like the concept and think you might have a need for it in the future, give me a quick no, but exchange information and keep in touch professionally. When it comes to recruiting, my time on a call or managing the candidate’s interview process is our client’s money.
Let’s all make 2010 a year of moments well-spent spent and investing in new, useful connections!
So true, Jessica. If there is one take-away from this for large companies, Higher Education, Government…etc. it is “Streamline your decision making process”. Dragging these things out doesn’t do anyone any good.
Hi Tom- I agree 100%. The fast no is something that we always talk about as well. Whether you are in a small company or a large company, your time is so valuable. There is a great book that talks about this as well as many other aspects to creating the best buyer/seller relationship. It’s called Let’s Get Real or Let’s Not Play by Mahan Khalsa and Randy Illig. It’s a great book and you hit it right on the mark!
Jessica says it well. As long as everyone is clear on WHY it is No (at least for now), then I totally agree. If there may be situations where you can get a Yes, then you have the perfect opportunity – a Pre-defined \We WILL do business\ scenario.
Tom,
Great post and thanks for sharing this with everyone. First time I heard you say this I loved it. People can really benefit from this, especially entrepreneur like you mention.
Tom – I love the insight, especially working at a start-up and responsible for sales. However, getting that “yes” is oh so sweet sometimes