Customers, customers, customers

There are lots of quotes a person could adopt as a guide like “Don’t cry over spilt milk”, “Move on” or the one I especially like from Mark Twain “Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest. “

I have been lucky to have been able to mostly live by that one.  In business sometimes it is especially difficult but here at my present firm of over a dozen years I have been part of such a team.  Are there challenges, of course.  Does greed or revenue pressure ever exert itself, of course.  But it is nice to be able to fight and really try to “always do right” and have colleagues and leadership go along with it. 

Yesterday I had a client, and they too are under enormous pressure, tell me that the people within their organization don’t agree with something we did for them.  Months of sweat, collaboration, thousands of hours of research and interviewing so that our assumptions and insight about what we feel may happen over the next five years, and work we have been doing for almost six years too, are for nothing. 

So what does one do in this situation?  Calmly explain what was done and how the work was done and hope they realize the care and commitment that went into the work.  If they do not get that or understand the truth in it – then move on and don't cry over spilt milk as they may not be right for us anymore.