Closed Mouths Don’t Get Fed, The Pain of Losing, and New Times
There is the cliche saying that “closed mouths don’t get fed,” and while I generally agree with it, I believe that it leaves out an important second half. Closed mouths don’t get fed, and open mouths sometimes get kicked in the teeth. Each time you open your mouth, you are opening yourself up for rejection. This isn’t saying you shouldn’t open your mouth, but just know the other side.
Over the last few years, I’ve been courting a certain number of high-value clients, working on building a relationship with them and a book of business that gives them the confidence to give us a shot. After more than 18 months I finally got a meeting with a decision maker for one of my dream clients. It went swimmingly. They were not too happy with their current supplier and were willing to pursue discussions with us further. A week passes, and we have the final meeting with their team. To make a long story short, they opted to stick with their current supplier for this year due to some timeline issues, and make the switch to us in 2027. Naturally, this sucked. After 18 months of working towards a goal, we got to the threshold and had the door slammed in our face. Over the next 24 hours, my mind went in all directions. I hate losing. And even though they committed to working with us in 2027 and working with us on additional projects in 2026, I felt like we had not won. Plus, with this project being spearheaded by me, it really got into my head.
On the other hand, it is pretty cool that these deals are even a possibility. There was a point in time where working with tier-1 clients like this was just a pie in the sky dream; now it is a reality. It is not reality by mistake or accident. It is a reality because we were willing to put ourselves out there, willing to go above and beyond, willing to do what most wouldn’t, and despite the setbacks, we persisted. Although the pain here really stung, it only makes it more obvious that we are still on the long journey to the mountain top.
On a closing and unrelated note, I recently read a quote that “the good times aren’t coming back, but new times are coming.” It felt fitting.