Stay Focused. Say NO.

Lately I have been turning away more projects than ever. In fact, I just came from a meeting from which I said "no" to the project and instead referred the individual to 5 people who could help.

It's easy to look at sale as a dollar sign but looking at it as a single transaction is short sighted.

We have developed a scorecard for our company for which we rank the person with 5 questions:

1. Is the budget realistic for the project?
2. Will this lead to other quality projects?
3. How committed are they to the project?
4. How did they find us?
5. Is the project aligned with the mission of the company?

If the score does not add up to the score we want, saying "no" in a polite way is the best thing we can do for everybody.

Do we still help them? Absolutely! That's why I passed on 5 contacts to the person I met with this morning.

It's not about not helping people, it's about staying focused on the mission. And saying NO is a must to stay focused.