‘No’ is just as important as ‘yes’ with growth

Periods of growth are a very exciting time for any organization. With it, come challenges, new opportunities and hopefully increased profitability. Growth causes an emotional response. As the leader, the growth of your annual sales is just one of many ways that your performance is measured, because as we’ve all heard “if you’re not growing you’re dying.” But too much growth too soon will most certainly kill your organization.
As a leader, it’s your responsibility to protect your organization from harm. The best leaders know which jobs to “no-quote.”
Most organizations have a sales department. The best sales people want to win every single bid; they hate to lose. As the leader of the company, it’s your responsibility to know when to say no. Rest assured, you will have a fight on your hands with your sales team, but it will be a fight you’ll want to win.
Calculate the cost of growth
One of my favorite leadership principles is “If you can measure it, you can manage it.” You will find that most decisions you have to make can be converted into some sort of math-based formula. The cost of growth is a perfect example of a math-based formula.
If you are a service provider, you have to provide your service for a number of weeks prior to receiving payment from your customer. If you sell a product, you have to front the costs of the machinery or materials needed to manufacture your product prior to making any sales.
The cost of growth is measurable, which makes it manageable. Figure out what your cost of growth is and then manage that growth.
Delivering results
The second component of growth is the delivery of the requested product or service. Can your company successfully deliver what is requested when it is requested?
Again, the delivery of your product or service is measureable. For example, you can measure the successful delivery of your product or service through a project plan with weekly planning meetings for your operational team. The best project plans have numerous deadlines leading up to the delivery date of your product or service.
Most sales people will promise the moon; delivering the stars is not good enough. It’s your responsibility to ensure your organization delivers what your customer purchased from you.
If you can’t, then you should “no-quote” the work.
Protect the business
Michael Hammer and James Champy, co-authors of “Reengineering the Corporation,” said, “An organization becomes bewildered rather than energized when it’s asked to do too much at once.” Yes, it’s your responsibility to grow the business. It’s also your responsibility to protect it.
Don’t fear the truth. If the truth is that you can’t afford the cost of growth, then it’s not good for the business.

If the truth is that your company won’t be able to deliver the product or service to standard and on time, then issue a “no-quote.” The best leaders know when to say no. Controlled growth equals sustainability.