Anyone who is an entrepreneur knows about the "slow no". Generally this term is associated with Venture Capital Firms that never seem to make up their mind if they are in your deal, or not. Brad Feld has talked about the slow no before in his blog. With Venture Capitalist I can almost understand the slow no. If you never answer, then you don't have to decide. If the deal heats up later you can jump in and look like a rock star. If the deal doesn't heat up you just say, "ahh, yeah we could never quite get our head around it". It's weak, but all too common in the industry.
Slow no's also exist out in the free range world of business. This is where you make a pitch about a product or service. The guy you are pitching listens intently, maybe through a few meetings. All the while saying, "Yes, I get it", "Ah, huh that makes total sense". At the end of the second or third hour of your involvement he says, "Send me over a proposal, and I'll get back to you". So, you spend 4 hours or so on a custom pitch that really addresses the business need. You send it, the feedback is thanks, let's follow up on a call in a couple weeks. Four weeks later, after the 3rd email and you ask for a "fish or cut bait", he responds, "No interest thanks".
Really, after about 8 hours of my personal time, after 8 hours of the CEO's time – you send me back, "No interest thanks". That's very useful. Thanks for giving me that feedback to help with the business.
I'm constantly amazed to the great extent people will go-to to avoid conflict.
Don't be a big pussy, say no – say it early – say if often.
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