Sometimes the best thing that will ever happen to you is losing a deal. It probably doesn't feel that way when it happens; after all sales people get paid to close deals. The problem when we lose a deal is most of the time we don't go back and evaluate what we could and should have done differently. Instead, we say things like:
"That guy was a jerk anyway!"
"They are so stupid, if only they knew what they really buying instead."
"They probably couldn't afford my product anyway!"
My five year old daughter recently learned to ride her bike. And on that first day when she was screaming at me to let go; insistent that "she could do it," I agreed and let go of the bike. 4.9 seconds late she hit the curb, fell off the bike, stood up and screamed at me "why did you let go?"
"I let go because you told me too! You said you could do it!" I said
Tears screaming down her face she said, "But you should have known!"
"You said to let go, that you could do it! What could you have done differently?" I asked trying to sound like a good parent.
"I could have kept my eyes open!"
When you lose a deal, take responsibility. Go back and ask yourself what you could have done differently. Call your prospect and ask them why they made the decision they made. Offer a gift card to them for their honestly. Sincerity works.
Otherwise we sound like my five year old, who for the record, has never hit a curb again.
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