Comments on: Do Me a Favor: Don’t Be My Customer

By: Anup Batra

Anup Batra — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 12:42:52 +0000

Couldnt agree with you more. I just have an RFP sent to me which is exactly what you describe. The buyer, who is the VP of a leading IT company writes to me ‘Hello Anup, I am almost through with my process of getting proposals for the search engine optimisation work for our company. However I came to know from ……… that you are also providing this service’ Please send me a quote latest by tomorrow night. And the RFP is so onerous and probing…the questions make you feel they want your complete business strategy before they assign you any work’ Guess what my gut feel says.

By: Peter Crocker

Peter Crocker — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 07:45:02 +0000

Absolutely Steve! I remember a quote I read somewhere or other something along the lines of “Some of the best business I’ve done is business I never did.”

It’s not always practical, but in the long-term defining the characteristics of your ideal client and building a customer base of ideal clients is a great way to building a business that’s more profitable, not to mention enjoyable. Not every opportunity is worth pursuing.

Thanks for the blog.

By: Staci

Staci — Thu, 31 May 2007 14:30:00 +0000

I can relate to Amanda’s comment. There are times when you have to wonder just how much of your effort is worth the sale? However, we must keep word of mouth in mind, right

By: mzfisher

mzfisher — Fri, 25 May 2007 16:46:16 +0000

This is so true. The last time I wrote a proposal, it took 12 hours and the client said yes, so I figured it was worth it.

Then the client called the next day and say they had chosen another vendor, who was cheaper.

I vowed that day never to spend a lot of time writing proposals, and, in fact, rarely write any at all. I usually tell clients that I don't do proposals, and several thought that was great!

By: Steve Rucinski

Steve Rucinski — Tue, 22 May 2007 18:13:35 +0000

Thanks for all of the comments, good to know my experience and instinct may be accurate.

By: Amanda

Amanda — Tue, 22 May 2007 13:51:13 +0000

I also agree that not all business is worth the effort. Some customers are just too hard to please.

By: Caroline Melberg

Caroline Melberg — Tue, 22 May 2007 02:44:58 +0000

Steve – I can sum this up in one word: Amen!

Thanks for telling it like it is – great blog – keep up the great content!
Caroline

By: Becky McCray

Becky McCray — Tue, 22 May 2007 02:10:33 +0000

Good insight, Steve. Equally applicable to small, medium and even tiny businesses. I’ve read many posts saying that not all business is worth the effort, but you have a great point to apply the same screen to bids.