Many of us have been asked to do work that falls outside of our focal point. And some of us take on this work to keep the cash coming in – even if we know that it’s not a great fit for the company. We did this in our early days – in start-up mode in 2006. And while we did good work – and delivered completed projects to satisfied clients – we knew that the job fell outside of our intended purpose as a company. The reality was – we had to feed the burning cash in R&D – and keep everyone committed to our longer term goals.
With that said – we never took on a project that fell outside of our competency areas – and we never committed to a project that we knew would fail. Now we’re completely committed to our cause and have the fortunate opportunity to fuel our passion by working with great organizations in the industry we love – tourism. But that doesn’t mean we don’t say no anymore. In fact, we said no to a tourism project yesterday. Why? Because we knew the application of technology was the wrong choice for the client. The old adage that the client is always right simply does not apply here. We were asked to work on a project we knew would be fraught with operational challenges and issues – and ultimately – would inevitably fail. This is because our technology, while designed for mobile tourism, wasn’t the right fit for the application. While the opportunity presented short term gain for our organization, a new project – the operational issues, and ultimately an unhappy client – was not worth it for us. While our expertise in GPS and mobile applications and audio tours means that we’re contacted often for new projects – it doesn’t mean we have the right to propose technology that might do the job?
I wasn’t surprised to hear that the prospect had received proposals from other companies presenting wireless technology and services to get the work. We just find it a shame. Whether it’s due to inexperience, ignorance or just the fact that these companies want the job (and the cash) – why sell something that will inevitably end in failure? What purpose does this serve, or in other words, why fuel a self-serving purpose?
We took the time to outline point by point why the project was destined to fail with our prospect. After a 90 minute call – we had worked ourselves out of a job and a new client. So what’s the upside? Building value and relationships is more important than taking in short-term cash. Do the job right or don’t do it at all. If you know a project is destined for failure – take the time to articulate why? You won’t get the job – but you’ll earn the respect of a possible future client.
