The Art of Saying No to a Business Opportunity
Recently I was invited by a nonprofit Mexican environmental organization to submit a proposal to consult with them to create a five-year strategic plan. Although the offer was tempting, it was a huge and demanding project, and the proposal alone would have been an enormous challenge to pull off. The project, even in the States and in English, would still have been a major undertaking for me. After soul-searching, I decided that smaller contracts, like the teaching assignments I had in November when I substituted for a local university professor, are a better fit for me right now, given my good, but not fluent Spanish, and my still-embryonic understanding of Mexican culture.
So, I needed to thank the client for the opportunity. In the States, this would be an easy task: thanks, but no thanks. But this being Mexico, I never assume it's that simple! I drafted an email and ran it by my teacher V, who said it was polite enough, but it needed a little more...in particular, I needed to give a couple of reasons for my decision.
Reasons? In the professional trainings I give in the U.S., I advise people in different communication situations to keep their reasons to a minimum, to avoid going into long detailed explanations about why this happened or why they want that. The longer the story, I say, the more defensive you sound. As I told V, if I were turning down a possible business opportunity in the U.S., I wouldn't be expected to explain why.
Not in Mexico! She recommended that I say that my technical Spanish skills were still developing in that area, and that "circunstancias personales" prevented me from taking on a project of this scale.
"But that sounds like I'm going through a divorce or something," I objected.
"No, no, not at all," she reassured me. "The client will understand."
I do what my teachers tell me to do. So I sent the email with V's added suggestions and knew I had done it right when I received a gracious and equally polite reply from the client, saying, "Thank you for your explanation. Definitely we will invite you to participate in future projects."
So, I needed to thank the client for the opportunity. In the States, this would be an easy task: thanks, but no thanks. But this being Mexico, I never assume it's that simple! I drafted an email and ran it by my teacher V, who said it was polite enough, but it needed a little more...in particular, I needed to give a couple of reasons for my decision.
Reasons? In the professional trainings I give in the U.S., I advise people in different communication situations to keep their reasons to a minimum, to avoid going into long detailed explanations about why this happened or why they want that. The longer the story, I say, the more defensive you sound. As I told V, if I were turning down a possible business opportunity in the U.S., I wouldn't be expected to explain why.
Not in Mexico! She recommended that I say that my technical Spanish skills were still developing in that area, and that "circunstancias personales" prevented me from taking on a project of this scale.
"But that sounds like I'm going through a divorce or something," I objected.
"No, no, not at all," she reassured me. "The client will understand."
I do what my teachers tell me to do. So I sent the email with V's added suggestions and knew I had done it right when I received a gracious and equally polite reply from the client, saying, "Thank you for your explanation. Definitely we will invite you to participate in future projects."
posted by Louisa at 7:21 AM
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