Su Qin
Qin Won't Buy, Try Yan
After a refusal, ask whether they lack the need
Sima Qian, Records of the Grand Historian, 'Biography of Su Qin' (the audience with the Marquis of Yan); Strategies of the Warring States, Qin 1
The King of Qin did not want his plan. This asks whether to change the plan or change who hears it.
What actually happened?
To the King of Qin, Su Qin had proposed how to swallow the other states and rule an empire. The king answered that a bird whose feathers are not full cannot fly high. Qin had just put Shang Yang to death and had no love for talkers. Su Qin turned to Yan and waited more than a year for an audience. Then he changed his pitch: Yan had been spared invasion only because Zhao shielded it to the south, so it should ally with Zhao. The Marquis of Yan gave him carriages and silks and sent him on to Zhao.
The strongest may need you least
Qin was strong and busy swallowing others. It wanted to do it faster and had no time for an alliance. Yan sat between great powers and feared being swallowed, so a plan for staying safe found a ready ear.
You pitch a management tool to a big company and they say they already have one. You pitch it to a team of a dozen and the owner asks the price on the spot.
Keep the skill, change where you start
To Qin he spoke of swallowing, to Yan of not being swallowed. He did not change what he could do. He changed the direction of the plan and his first sentence.
The same quote: lead with delivery time for the client who is in a hurry, and with price for the one on a tight budget.
The right person is worth a wait
The Marquis of Yan did not see him on the first day. Su Qin waited over a year for a place in the queue, and one meeting settled it. Finding the right person can take time. With the wrong one, a year of waiting is wasted.
The right client may need a quarter to fit you in. That is cheaper than ten meetings with the wrong one.
How do I use it today?
Where you are: you keep making your case and the person across the table does not want it.
Ask first: do they refuse because my work is weak, or because they do not lack this and do not fear it? Who has the very problem I can solve?
Where it goes wrong: reading it as one refusal means switch targets. In Qin he pitched ten times. Switch when the person truly has no need, not because they said no today.
Lines to keep
The biggest player is often the one that needs you least.
Keep the skill; find someone who fears this problem.
Wait a year for the right person, not a day for the wrong one.
Same situation, other people are asking
I said it and not one person took it seriously.Maybe I just don't have it.I did the work and somebody else got the credit.How many people would I actually need before this pays for itself?Nobody is looking at my work · all 10 questions →If this one named what you are going through,
send it to someone who needs it, or keep it somewhere you will find it again.