The Perfection Trap
In mid-2022, a massive telecom client demanded we leave.
We were hitting 95% of their SLAs at a critical warehouse unit. In the ops world, that is gold. But this client was the type who measured guard arrival times to the second and uniform press quality to the thread.
The 5% gap was enough for them to demand a change. My Ops Manager was furious. “We are doing better than any vendor they’ve ever had in the past three years” he argued. “They are never satisfied.”
He wanted to fight. He wanted to prove our worth with data. I chose a different weapon: Absence.
“Let’s exit,” I said. “Clean handover. No arguments. No drama.”
The Vacuum
We executed a professional exit. We documented everything. We trained our replacements. We left with a smile.
Then, we waited.
Robert Greene writes in his book “The 48 Laws of Power”: “Too much circulation makes your value go down… You must learn when to leave. Create value through scarcity.”
For nine months, silence. Then, my phone rang.
“Three vendors have failed,” the client said. “One fudged the compliance. One had massive absenteeism. Our current vendor fails every operational audit.”
The vacuum we left had proven our value in a way no PowerPoint presentation or sale pitch ever could. They didn’t just want a vendor; they needed a solution to the chaos.
Negotiating from the Void
When they asked us back, the power dynamic had flipped. I wasn’t negotiating from a position of need (begging to keep the contract). I was negotiating from a position of validated competence.
I set three non-negotiable conditions:
- Price Correction: A 30% increase in our service fees.
- Defined Reality: Clear, documented SLAs. No more “feeling” that service was bad.
- Direct Line: Issues resolved at the Ops level, not escalated to HQ for sport.
They agreed. We have been back on-site since January 2024. They still complain as it’s their nature, but now they pay a premium for the privilege.
The Monday Morning Raid
Are you over-servicing a client who treats you like a commodity? You are making a mistake: You are trying to prove your value through Presence (doing more).
Sometimes, you must prove it through Absence.
The Clean Exit Protocol:
- Identify the Drain: The client who demands 90% of your energy for 10% of your profit.
- The Professional Walk: Do not burn the bridge. Execute a flawless handover. Make it easy for them to switch.
- The Comparison Trap: Let them experience the market. Let them see what “cheaper or better” actually means.
If you are truly good, the market will punish them for leaving you. And when they call back, the price goes up. If the call never comes, maybe its time to look at your own operations system.