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The Anatomy of a Million Dollar Deal
The Sales Blog24 Feb 2026
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After four years of pursuing this client, I finally got a leader to take my call. I asked him why we had never had a chance to meet with them. He asked me what our markup was, and I said it was 40 percent. He said the markup had to have a 3 before the rest of the markup. I said does 39 work and he decided to give us an opportunity. I went into the building and watched my competition prepare for their meeting. They were a big company, and we were a small, family firm doing good work. They came out looking like they did well in their interview.
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51 “The leaders wanted to see who they were going to be working with.” One was a union facility, something not normal in staffing. They tried to get us out, but were on contract. They would tell me that I needed 21 staffers to fill their needs, so I brought extra in case they needed more for people who called off. As we were executing our work, the Bird Colonel said if you don't get us better staffers, we are going to get another staffing firm. I went back to my office to try get better people, but when I started to look at all the data, I decided to make an executive briefing. I sat down and showed their team why they are not getting the caliber of employees that they needed. They paid nine-dollars an hour, but most companies were paying twelve dollars at that time. The Bird Colonel was happy with changing the new pay rate, and we had a three million dollar client every year.
51 “I did what I always did: get everyone's name and their role.” One was a union facility, something not normal in staffing. They tried to get us out, but were on contract. They would tell me that I needed 21 staffers to fill their needs, so I brought extra in case they needed more for people who called off. As we were executing our work, the Bird Colonel said if you don't get us better staffers, we are going to get another staffing firm. I went back to my office to try get better people, but when I started to look at all the data, I decided to make an executive briefing. I sat down and showed their team why they are not getting the caliber of employees that they needed. They paid nine-dollars an hour, but most companies were paying twelve dollars at that time. The Bird Colonel was happy with changing the new pay rate, and we had a three million dollar client every year.