The Countless Failures 失败的次数

The Uncounted Failures: Behind the Scenes of a DMC

We rarely talk about how many times we’ve failed. When facing clients and friends, we only discuss recent success stories—which route sold well, which group was thrilled, or which project was seamlessly executed. Over time, this creates an illusion: that a DMC is "raking it in," projects are endless, and every step is calculated to perfection. (Laughs)

Recently, Gervene finally closed a case—an itinerary that is officially set and ready for execution. In the world of a DMC,popping the champagne early is rarely recommended. Before things actually hit the ground, any celebration feels premature. But for Gervene, this case is undoubtedly the reward for months of hard work and a much-needed validation of her efforts.

We are lucky; lately, we’ve been constantly chased by requests for quotes. Yet, proposal after proposal is sent out like a "one-way ticket"—drifting away into the void, never to be heard from again. Several times, I felt certain that "this is the one," only for it to result in a dead end for reasons beyond our control. There are always variables in reality that simply do not rest in the hands of a DMC.

As a result, my phrase "It’s almost a done deal" eventually became a running joke among the team. It’s not malicious teasing; it’s a unspoken consensus of our reality—in the world of a DMC, "feeling good" never equals "closing the deal." Intuition sometimes comes from experience, but more often, it’s just a bit of psychological comfort we give ourselves amidst endless uncertainty.

So, we’ve slowly realized that the number of failures doesn't really need a solemn post-mortem. Quotes with no echo,"almost-deals" that fall through—these happen so frequently that they have become an inherent part of the job. Those unselected proposals and projects that stalled at the "one step away" stage are not wasted; they slowly recalibrate our judgment, expectations, and boundaries.

The failure rate won't drop just because of this one win. Tomorrow, the quotes still need to be sent, and some will likely vanish into the void again. But that’s okay.

After dinner, we each head back to our computers to keep refining plans, sending quotes, and confirming details. Failures will continue to accumulate, and success might not come quickly. But at least for now, this group of people is working earnestly toward the same goal at the same time.

For us, that alone is worth a toast.

我们很少谈失败的次数。

每次面对客户和朋友，只讨论最近成功的案例。

哪条线路卖得好、哪组客人很满意、哪个项目又顺利落地。

久而久之，给人一种 DMC 日进斗金、案子不断、每一步都算得刚刚好 的错觉。（笑）

最近，Gervene close了一个案件。

一个终于尘埃落定、能被确认执行的行程。

提前开香槟，很多时候并不推荐。

在 DMC 的工作里，事情没真正落地之前，任何庆祝都显得过早。

但这个案件，对 Gervene 来说，

无疑是这几个月努力的回报，也是一种被认可的证明。

我们是幸运的，最近每天都被报价追着跑。

只是一份又一份方案发出去，却像单程船票一样——有去无回，石沉大海。

好几次，我都觉得「这次应该要成了」，却最终因为各种各样的原因，没有下文。

不是方案不够完整，也不是执行能力不足，只是现实里，总有一些变量，并不掌握在 DMC 手中。。。

以至于我那句「估计要成了」，后来经常被大家拿出来当作笑点。

不是恶意的调侃，而是一种心照不宣的现实共识——在 DMC 的世界里，“感觉很好”从来不等于“真的会成”。

直觉有时候来自经验，但更多时候，它只是我们在无数不确定性中，给自己的一点心理安慰。

所以后来我们也慢慢发现，失败的次数这件事，其实没那么需要被郑重其事地总结。

报价没回音，「差不多要成了」最后还是没成，这些事情发生得太频繁了，频繁到它们本身，已经成了 DMC 工作的一部分。

那些没被选中的提案、没有回音的报价、停在「差一点就确认」阶段的项目，

一次次累积，慢慢校正我们的判断、预期和边界。

失败的次数不会因为这一单而减少，明天该发的报价还是要发，该被石沉大海的，大概也还是会继续石沉大海。

但没关系。

吃完饭，各自回到电脑前，继续改方案、发报价、确认细节。

失败的次数还会增加，成功也未必来得很快。

但至少现在，是这一群人，在同一个时间，为同一件事情认真地努力着。

对我们来说，这就已经很值得举杯了。

（都是一些小随笔，谢绝转载和复制，No unauthorized reposting or duplication.）