The power of NO

I went and visited one of my clients yesterday. Its been a while since I helped them and I wanted to catch up on where they were at.
As it turns out, this company has been going great guns, building their testing from zero to three testers. However, growth often means pain, and this particular company had some pain points. I knew there was something I could do to help.

They also wanted help in recruitment. Now, this has always been a bit of a sore point for me. While I want to help my clients, I’m not a recruiter. On the other hand, I know many testers who want to do interesting work. Could I add value here?

Well, it turns out I could. But it's not the value I’m particularly interested in offering. I’m a consultant, trainer and coach. I advise people on how to improve their testing. Instead, I pointed them to the best recruiter in Sydney, Catherine Karena to help them out on recruitment.

They also wanted help in offshoring, so I pointed them to the best offshoring company in India, Moolya.

What financial gain have I made out of all this?

Nothing. A big fat zero.

Yes, that’s right. I made no financial gain from this event. In fact, you could argue I lost money, if I take into the account that I spent an hour of my time speaking with a client.

I know, that many will argue that I could have rightly skimmed off the top of these introductions. After all, it's common (add some say good business sense) to add a percentage on top of these deals, in lieu of the introduction. After all, new leads are like gold dust in this industry

I got something out of it though, you know it did, because I probably wouldn’t be writing this post if I didn’t.

Saying no has given me strength. I’ve put my foot down, and said “value matters”. That feels good. That feels right.

Making a fast buck? Meh!  Knowing what you stand for? Priceless!!