Knowing when to walk away from a deal you could probably win

3 days ago
3 min read

Updated: 12 hours ago

Introduction

Every experienced owner has a job they wish they had declined. It was winnable, it was won, and it consumed three times the expected attention, produced a difficult relationship, delayed better work and ended with a grudging payment. The warning signs were present during the sales conversation and were overlooked because the diary looked thin.

Declining work is uncomfortable and it is a commercial skill rather than a luxury. The signals are reasonably consistent, they appear before any commitment is made, and recognising them is worth more than the revenue foregone, because capacity spent on a bad job is capacity unavailable for a good one.

1. Knowing when to walk away from a deal starts with the signals in the conversation

The observation.

How somebody behaves while buying predicts how they will behave as a customer. This is the best information you will ever have and it is available before you commit to anything. It is also routinely ignored, because the enquiry feels like an opportunity rather than a decision.

2. Watch how they talk about previous suppliers

The strongest single signal.

Somebody for whom every previous supplier was incompetent is describing a pattern, and you are the next entry in it. One bad experience is normal; a series is information. Ask what happened each time and listen to whether they had any part in it.

3. Notice unrealistic expectations early

The second.

A timescale that cannot be met, a budget that does not match the work, an outcome that is not achievable. Correcting it now is possible; discovering it during delivery is not. Whether they accept the correction is itself the useful signal.

4. Take pressure over your terms seriously

The third.

Resistance to a deposit, to a written scope, to your normal payment terms. These are the arrangements that protect both sides, and objection to all of them predicts the problem. Objection to one is negotiation; objection to all of them is a pattern.

5. Be wary of scope that keeps growing before you start

The fourth.

Additions during the sales conversation, each described as small. If it is expanding before any commitment, it will expand faster afterwards. Price the current scope and treat further additions as variations.

6. Count the work outside the work

The economic test.

Meetings, revisions, chasing, administration, emotional cost. A job at an adequate price that consumes twice the attention is worse than a smaller one that does not. Estimate the hours honestly before deciding.

7. Ask whether you would want another one like it

The clarifying question.

If the honest answer is no, that is your answer about this one. Businesses grow by doing more of what works, and taking a job you would not repeat is a step sideways.

8. Decline early and clearly

The execution.

Before investing in a survey or a quote, with a brief honest reason and a suggestion of somebody better suited. This is remembered well and frequently produces a referral.

9. Have enough pipeline to make it possible

The underlying condition.

Declining work is only possible when there is other work. This is the real argument for maintaining marketing activity during busy periods rather than only during quiet ones.

Be careful about declining on instinct alone, particularly early on. Some difficult-seeming buyers are simply anxious or inexperienced, and a clear conversation about expectations resolves more of these than walking away would.

Conclusion

Read the signals in the conversation, because they predict the relationship.

Pay attention to how they describe previous suppliers, correct unrealistic expectations before committing, treat resistance to your standard terms as a warning, watch for scope expanding before anything is agreed, count the meetings and administration a job will consume, ask whether you would want another one like it, decline early with a brief honest reason and a suggestion, and keep enough pipeline that declining is possible.