What You Can Learn from Lost Sales When a Client Says 'No': Learning from Your Lost Proposals 7 Places Sales Leads are Lost (and How You Can Fix It)

It was my second shot on hole #4. I had been playing well this past Saturday, striking the ball cleanly, keeping it in the short grass. And then I duffed one. It flew, like a wounded duck about 20 yards ahead and dropped unceremoniously in the rough.

Frequently, when I hit a lousy shot, and I’m playing by myself, I will drop another ball at that point and have another go. I want to keep at it until I get the swing perfect; then, at least, I learned something.

On hole #4, as I prepared to drop another ball, a little voice told me to just walk up the 20 yards or so to where I had whiffed it and play the ball. I needn’t sweat the one I just missed, just play the next one better.

That resonated with me on a deeper level. Earlier that morning, just before heading out to the course, I had checked my email. The only message of import read, simply, “no thanks.” I had met with a prospect earlier this month, and his responses at that sales meeting indicated, to my mind, real opportunity. I emailed the company president afterward asking if he would like to move forward, and the answer arrived on Saturday morning: “No thanks.” Ouch.

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