The Gracious Response Wins

Seth Godin is one of the key thought leaders alive today.  He has a blog post on “no” that helps us understand his genius of seing the obvious we all ignore.  Summarized, it says:

Suppose you’ve applied to an organization, and they didn’t pick you.  What next?

• You could send a note that tells them they made a mistake, that the candidate / company selected is inferior, and question their judgment in making the decision.

Or

• You could send a thank you note for the time invested, you could sing the praises of the vendor the organization.  And then you remind them that if additional work came available, you hope you’ll have a chance to offer your services again.

Then he asks the “between the eyes” question:

“Which one will make you more likely to be invited back, or to be the backup if the first choice fails?”