Never A Done Deal

This post originally appeared in my weekly newsletter, BL&T (Borrowed, Learned, & Thought). Subscribe

Borrowed

"Timing is everything. There is an important art not only to determining whether one should or should not go into a deal, but to knowing whether one might want to go into such a deal somewhere down the road. Especially in cases where timing was the decisive factor in not making a deal, there is value in remaining in close contact with the potential future partner. While it’s true that today’s potential business deal may later evaporate, it also may one day evolve into something bigger, better, and more richly textured. Patience has its rewards."

From "Setting the Table" by Danny Meyer [Book]

Learned

One phrase I’ve been sharing with our sales team recently is: it’s never a done deal until it’s a done deal. But even then, there’s no guarantee!

I don’t say this to be pessimistic, but to be realistic. We can’t allow ourselves to let up or make decisions assuming one or two deals will carry us where we want to go.

Over the years, we’ve had clients who were eager to get started and excited to work with us fall through for various reasons. We’ve even had contracts signed, work underway, and then everything paused for months or canceled altogether.

Just last week, a client we were excited to take on let us know they wanted to push their project to late October at the earliest. We had spent months in conversation and several weeks working through the details of our MSA and SOW, so it came as both a surprise and a disappointment.

This was the third deal in the past three months that we technically “won” but saw paused with the aim to start later this year or early 2026.

The lesson is one I’ve been reminded of often. You can never rely on any one or two deal signing, no matter how good they feel. Winning them can be encouraging, a positive signal that your positioning is working or your sales process is resonating, but you cannot take your foot off the gas.

I love reading about long endurance races and the strategy that goes into them. Runners will talk about how easy it is to feel strong early on, maybe even get out ahead, and think you can afford to ease up. But that’s often when the race turns. Competitors close the gap, momentum shifts, and suddenly you’re chasing instead of leading. The ones who finish strongest are usually those who keep a steady pace, adjust when conditions change, and stay locked in all the way through.

Business works the same way. A signed contract or verbal yes is not the finish line. The work is to keep building, refining, and evolving, and to let every pause or setback sharpen how you approach the next opportunity.

The encouraging part is that the day after hearing about the pause, we received verbal approval on another exciting prospect. A few other proposals also went out last week, and conversations with current and new clients are moving forward. None of them are certain, but that’s fine. The only way to be ready is to keep putting in the work, learning, and trying new things.