A fellow proposal professional, to whom I am a mentor, was describing the many challenges they were having with a particular client. These ranged from the sales person not having much information about the opportunity, to subject matter experts repeatedly missing deadlines and to production time being decreased to the point that quality was being seriously jeopardized.
We discussed some of the measures this individual might put in place on future efforts to avoid such challenges. When we finished the discussion, I commented, “So, now you should thank your client.”
This caused the person I mentor to be somewhat taken aback and they replied, “Why on earth should I thank them. All they did was make my job harder.”
I explained that, while certainly trying and perhaps painful, there were many lessons being learned and this would only help them become better as a proposal professional. I went on to state, “As I know it, the definition of an expert is ‘Someone who has made most of the mistakes that can be made, learned from them and was then able to avoid them in the future.’ You should look at what you’ve just been through as a learning experience and thank this client for assisting you on your journey to become a proposal expert.”
We discussed some of the measures this individual might put in place on future efforts to avoid such challenges. When we finished the discussion, I commented, “So, now you should thank your client.”
This caused the person I mentor to be somewhat taken aback and they replied, “Why on earth should I thank them. All they did was make my job harder.”
I explained that, while certainly trying and perhaps painful, there were many lessons being learned and this would only help them become better as a proposal professional. I went on to state, “As I know it, the definition of an expert is ‘Someone who has made most of the mistakes that can be made, learned from them and was then able to avoid them in the future.’ You should look at what you’ve just been through as a learning experience and thank this client for assisting you on your journey to become a proposal expert.”
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