Who Made You Quit?

Your most dangerous and fiercest competitor has had your dream client locked up tighter than a steel drum for years. Your nurturing efforts have gone from bi-weekly, to monthly, to quarterly, to something less than quarterly. When your dream client starts to feel those certain sharp pains of dissatisfaction, will they know you?

Or did they make you quit?

You have been calling one of your dream clients relentlessly over the past years. You have never gotten further than a few short, polite phone conversations. Every time you call, your efforts to create value are soundly rejected, and all of your attempts to create and nurture a relationship are refused. Are you as determined to go the distance and relentlessly pursue your dream client as they are determined to say no?

Or did they make you quit?

You have been to the boardroom. You presented; everyone else presented. You have been told that you are in second place, and that a lot of the buying committee members are pushing for one of your competitors. It’s not the best news, but you are still in striking distance from winning. Do you pull out all of the stops and leave no weapon unfired?

Or did they make you quit?

Have you gone the distance every day, doing all that was necessary—and then just a little bit more—to make sure that you have chosen to act instead of wait, to prospect instead of procrastinate, to nurture instead of neglect, to believe instead of doubt, to care passionately instead of phoning it in, and to be something more to all those who are counting on you rather than going though the motions?

The truth is, no one can make you quit.  If you quit, it’s because you decided to; no one made you.

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