I said no to new work this week. It went against my sales focus and overall approach to business. It went against my desire to end the year on a high note. It was a client I like very much personally and wanted to help. But I still said no.

Any business relationship is a two-way street. Both parties should want the other to succeed. Our very best clients are like that. They recognize that we are in business to make money. They acknowledge that our work has value. And they understand that we need time to do our best strategic and creative thinking. They also make themselves available to help us help them by responding to emails and phone calls, respecting schedules and commitments.

Sometimes the road to saying no starts with the RFP. Too many provide little-to-no information or time, but still ask for our creative ideas and detailed pricing. It’s a vendor mentality and not conducive to developing a mutually beneficial partnership. It costs us financially and culturally. Not only do we waste time and resources, spinning our wheels for someone who’s on a fishing expedition, we take time away from the great clients who value what we do.

We want to build and maintain a strong new business pipeline, so it’s important to safeguard our most precious resource – time. We’re wired to say yes.