When a Client Says 'No': Learning from Your Lost Proposals

An unfortunate reality of our business is that we don't win all of the projects we propose on. It's rarely fun to dissect our sales process to learn why we lost a project, but it's a great way to sort out--and put to good use--the signals we're receiving from the market.

A client once told me that one consultant's reaction to losing a project was to warn the client that he (the client) was making a big mistake and would regret it. This approach is not likely to earn much respect from clients. Instead, the goal should be to convert today's bad news into future wins.