As Your Company Grows, Beware Of Business Saboteurs

Business to business sales are tricky, due in no small part to the number of people who tend to be involved in the process. In any B2B situation, you have the key stakeholders, their direct reports, and then a legion of operational people who help with due diligence and implementation.

Occasionally, strange things happen when a significant number of people get involved in these situations, especially when they come from big companies. For some reason, there are often individuals who want to stand athwart progress yelling “stop!” Sometimes, their objection is due to a true and valid concern about the issue at hand. More often, however, their opposition stems from the fact that they feel threatened, or it wasn’t their idea.

Ideally, these situations are rectified with clear and honest communication and the process can roll forward. Unfortunately, we don’t live in an ideal world, and more often than not people will resort to trying to disrupt the process discretely.

I’ve had to deal with business saboteurs more often than I’d like to admit. Fortunately, I’ve learned a thing or two about handling them over the years.

First and foremost, take a look at yourself and accept responsibility

When BodeTree first started out, we had a small sales channel that focused on accounting firms and small business advisors. The firms we dealt with loved the platform’s potential and the efficiency gains it could provide. The firm’s front-line employees, however, felt extremely threatened by the system due to the fact that we were automating large parts of their job.

When the first firm we were working with decided to test the system ahead of signing the contract, the looked to these front-line employees for help. Understandably, these people were absolutely merciless when it came to even the smallest of bugs or customer service issues. They absolutely savaged us in an attempt to scuttle the deal from moving forward.

As a young and inexperienced founder at the time, I was absolutely livid. While there were glitches and technical issues that were encountered, the individuals complaining flat out lied about my team’s responsiveness and the level of support that was provided. My first reaction was to let loose a barrage of angry emails and comments, refuting each point with blistering precision. Fortunately, I managed to cool down and respond far more intelligently.

Rather than question the integrity of the individuals, I chose to accept responsibility for the very real glitches that were encountered. We identified the issues, resolved the problems, and put in place new safeguards to prevent them from happening again. It wasn’t easy to force down the raging fury that burned just beneath the surface, but the decision showed that we were an organization that behaved with grace and maturity.

Recognize that perception is reality

Now, we weren’t out of the woods yet. While I did my best to manage the situation with the firm’s leadership and make progress, much of the damage was already done. I quickly learned that perception is, in fact, reality for many people. There is a certain inertia inside of large organizations to begin with, and many times stakeholders are simply waiting for a bump in the road in order to stop the entire process.

This was a harsh realization for me on a personal level. Even though the situation seemed blatantly unfair, the deal was all but dead. Faced with this unfortunate reality, I had to figure out how to respond.

Respond with facts, and don’t get angry

There was a strong temptation to go out in a blaze of glory, employing a scorched earth policy that would have felt good in the moment but left a lasting legacy in the marketplace. Instead, I simply presented the facts as they stood, demonstrating my team’s responsiveness and politely refuting some of the false assertions that had been leveled.

I resisted the urge to get angry, as tempting as it was. The deal ended not with a bang, but a whimper. It simply melted away over time. It was a personal loss for me, and a loss for their firm. However, it was a valuable learning experience that has helped shape me as a leader.

Business saboteurs are very real, and very dangerous. Unfortunately, there are individuals in large organizations (and all organizations for that matter) that embrace the status quo and want to avoid change at all costs. However, giving into your base desires and lashing out is never the right move. Instead, leaders must accept responsibility, recognize that perception is often reality, and respond with facts, not anger.

Sometimes you will lose a deal, and sometimes it will come down to fundamentally unfair reasons. That reality is out of your control. However, your behavior and reputation is fully in your control. Deals come and go, but dignity and maturity stay with you forever.

This article originally appeared in Forbes.