I was approached for a proposal. The prospect asked for a demo too. Excited, I wrote the finer details to demonstrate expertise.
I submitted it and was hopeful. A month later, no feedback. I contacted the prospect for feedback. Without shame, the man who was pushing me to submit the proposal said, ‘We decided to handle the project internally.’
I tried to find out why and discovered the sour truth: they found my proposal very practical and decided to implement it without my involvement.
And that is when I remembered the advice from Zig Ziglar. He warned us about overselling. He told of a story about a girl who introduced her boyfriend, but the parents were worried that the boyfriend did not have Christian values. So, they advised their daughter to introduce the boyfriend to embrace Christianity. The girl loved the boy and did not want to lose him. She did as the parents advised.
Three months later, the girl came back crying to the parents: ‘We have a problem.’ To which they asked, ‘What is the problem?’ The girl said, ‘The wedding is off.’
‘Why?’ The parents asked. ‘I introduced my boyfriend to Christianity, which he loved so much, and now he has decided to become a priest! So the wedding has been called off!’
Are you overselling your services?
Always remember the law of unintended consequences. As you write that proposal, always leave a piece of the puzzle unsolved. Thieves are everywhere. Everyone is waiting to steal your intellectual property without shame.
