Alex's Tech Thoughts

I had a post last week about what you should do when someone says no. In the comments section someone mentioned that there are times when getting a yes is actually worse than a no. 

The comment:

Completely agreed on the insight about hearing no when trying to partner. A bit of pure sales experience at some point in someone’s career is important to learn that ‘no’ could just mean ‘not necessarily for me at this time’, and learning how to maneuver those situations.

One random point would be how to deal with a “yes” in looking for partnerships. I can’t count the times that in a meeting someone said ‘yes’, but actually completing the deal took a tremendous amount more effort (bureacracy / approvals, etc.). Just as you shouldn’t get too discouraged by a no, that initial yes should also not make you think you’re already the king. 

- ranjanxroy

I totally agree. Getting an initial yes is a great feeling, but if you don’t take the proper steps to get the partnership live then it is actually worse than getting a no. 

Once a company says yes, I like to map out the proper next steps to the promised land.

It usually comes down to three things:

What do we need to do?

What do they need to do?

What is the timeframe for both sides?

If you can map this out right after getting a yes, than you should be good to go.