I’m glad I did.
He understood if we chose not to take them on, but if we reconsidered, he’d make it worth our while. I told him I’d listen on one condition: Whatever we agreed to, he would stay involved in all matters of this relationship, including finalizing the contract. In the end, we couldn’t finalize the deal. We were too far apart on a number of items, and frankly, trust was so damaged that we just didn’t believe they would do their part in this relationship. So, we walked away.
The 30-plus-page contract included 50-plus new changes, with six updates so substantive that it changed the relationship in a manner we couldn’t accept. Not only was I angry, I was crushed. I felt duped and taken advantage of.
Why did they do this? None of it made sense. Still, we were left with one question: “What do we do now?”
This is an easy story to tell today, but it was so difficult to deal with in the moment. Here are three things that helped me in that situation:
My wife has told me numerous times that when someone shows you who they really are, believe them. This was one of those times. They showed me what kind of client they were going to be, and I knew that was not a client we could work with. It seemed they were showing me their choices could be unethical and devious. I knew we had to walk away. I went back to the RFP’s sponsor to resign from the business. I showed him our grievance and told him we could not work with a team that was so willing to be this underhanded, particularly after what seemed like a very collaborative process. We want partners as clients, not competitors.
1. We didn’t compromise our values. We knew who we were, we knew the kinds of people we wanted to work with, and we knew that life was too short to work with unscrupulous people. 2. We acted with alignment. Before I made the call to the client, I talked about it with my team. We explored all the angles, but in the end, we agreed on the decision. That gave me comfort and confidence. 3. When people show you who they are, believe them. My wife’s advice was so spot-on. I tried to rationalize their behavior so we could take on the business. But the reality was their actions outweighed their words. Years later, I ran into some people from the agency that the client landed with after us. Turns out, the client had gone through three agencies in four years and is still looking for a new one.
The sponsor had no idea this had gone on and was embarrassed. He understood, and we said our goodbyes.
A week later, he called me to express his regret and remorse. Upon further investigation, he said, the changes were inserted by a rogue agent who felt like they could do so without anyone noticing. He said that’s not how they operate as a business, and that person had been relieved of their duties.
Damaged goods.
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