Copyright © 1998, Nanette Miner
Permission is granted to reproduce or excerpt this article if proper credit is given in this format:
Reprinted/excerpted with permission. The Training Doctor. Author: Nanette Miner. www.trainingdr.com

Turn Down Business to Get More Business

Consulting is a funny business (not funny ha-ha mind you, but funny weird). There are periods of feast and famine. Years when you can’t keep up with all the work -- and years when you can’t find any work! I’ve discovered that one of the ways to keep the work coming in, is to turn down as much business as I accept.

It’s an interesting concept -- turning down business actually brings in more business. There are consultants “out there” who try to be all things to all people. Need someone to train the management in coaching skills? I can do that! Someone to do a work-flow analysis? I can do that! Someone to rebuild your carburetor? I can do that! These type of consultants are like super novas - they burn brightly for awhile, then they burn out. You cannot be all things to all people for a number of inter-related reasons:

1. It takes too much time and energy on your part . How can you possible research coaching skills, work-flow analysis procedure, and rebuilding carburetors well enough to train others or successfully do the work yourself? Which brings me to...
2. Since you have not concentrated in an area of skill, you are a jack of all trades but a master of none. Which means eventually you will fail. You will be unprepared for the unusual, the unique. And when you fail you will quite possibly develop a negative reputation for your work.
3. Eventually you will burn out. You will be unable to market yourself because you can’t really say what it is you do. You also won’t be able to market yourself because you’ll constantly be busy learning new subject matter at some client’s request. The ultimate outcome is - if you cannot market yourself - work will come slowly and eventually not at all.

So what do I mean by turning down work? Here are a few examples.

In 1997 a client that I was doing instructional design work for asked me to go to Europe for 10 days to facilitate training at one of their locations. Without a moment’s hesitation, I said “no.” The client was a bit surprised that I turned down such an opportunity. I explained that stand-up training isn’t what I “do” - I design training. I also told him that I would be happy to refer someone else to him. I immediately called two facilitator-colleagues and one of them got the job. She continues to do facilitation work for the client and I continue to do instructional design work - everybody’s happy.

Last week the training director for a New York based cable company called to ask me to do some management training. I have not worked for the company in the past and would have loved to put their name on my client list - but I had to explain that I wasn’t the right choice for their needs. The client wanted a program that was “off the shelf,” while I design custom programs that are specific to the client-company. Again, I referred someone else. I don’t deny my clients and potential clients assistance - I simply point them in the right direction to obtain assistance from those individuals who would be best able to provide it.

Turning down business in this manner benefits the consultant in two ways:

1. The client respects the fact that you are a true professional who is committed to a standard of excellence, and
2. The other consultants to whom you refer work appreciate your assistance and usually return it in-kind when they are able.

Frequently, you will find that turning down work makes you more desirable. A former-engineer friend tells me that she gets requests to do engineering consulting all the time. The more she tells folks that that’s not what she does any more - the more diligently they pursue her. I’ve heard this referred to as “the elusive butterfly syndrome.” The more something is beyond our reach, the more we want to possess it.

The concept of turning down business doesn’t apply just to consulting. World-renowned contemporary artist Sol LeWitt once turned down a lucrative commission from the company Honeywell, because he didn’t believe in their product - munitions.

My chiropractor regularly tells potential patients when they’d be better off seeing an orthopedic specialist or another type of doctor. As a result, he gets lots of referrals from folks who trust him -even if they never been his patient.

During the 1930’s, Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s were virtually at war in the department-store industry. Suddenly, Macy’s took the lead. Why? Because if they didn’t carry a item they would tell the customer where they could find it. Because of this strategy, shoppers would always go to Macy’s first because they knew if they couldn’t find what they were looking for at Macy’s they would only have to make one more stop because Macy’s would tell them where they could find it. Consequently, Macy’s revenues rose significantly because they became the first stop on every shopper’s list.

You, too, can become the first stop on every client’s list. The more you turn down business - the more business will come to you. Try it.