Saying yes when you should say NO has consequences beyond the financial. Continuing from “The Power of No: Part 1“, today we’re exploring the fundamental importance and impact of saying No in sales.
The Fundamental Importance of saying NO
When you dive into human psychology, saying No has a very interesting effect on how people perceive you. Remember, we teach people how to treat us. So saying NO to bad deals is crucial in developing a healthy client-vendor partnership.
Being crystal clear about your values and goals makes saying “No” easier. And that is a plus because it’s not always going to be easy. Sure, we can say no to our kids asking for ice cream before dinner, or a customer who asks us to do something we just don’t do…like we only make cake, not ice cream here. We can say No to things that don’t feel like they matter.
But what happens when it does feel like it matters? When an opportunity is presented to you and you really have to decide? When you really, really want to say yes? Why would we decide to say No?
As a professional, it’s important to have your clients perceive you as a valued expert in your field. Saying No to ideas that don’t serve you or the customer’s best interest not only protects your reputation, it reinforces your dedication to your expertise. You may have heard that becoming a “trusted advisor” is the result of saying No judiciously. But here’s the secret:
Saying NO earns you RESPECT.
Being respected will attract the right kind of clients to you-ones that are willing to pay for your expertise and refer you to others who won’t blink at your fees. And that kind of client-vendor relationship is where the dividends live.
Let me be real frank with you here: Humans are weird. When someone says No to us we want them to say yes. We start to try and impress them, and look for a way to get them to say yes to us. In sales, we need to use that to our advantage so we don’t find ourselves begging like a dog for a bone. In other words, saying NO gives you POWER.
Why is power important? Like any relationship, a healthy one requires a balance of power. When it’s unbalanced, there is unhappiness. Work is one way we express our own selves. A big way, in fact. Health and success are found when we are able to share the best parts of ourselves and they are recognized as valuable.
Saying no drives focus into your life…and makes every yes precious. Saying No makes a YES have meaning, value and worth.
Of course, saying No sometimes isn’t the right call. We know we need to be brave and take risks in business. (More on this in a future blog post). Working through this decision-making process therefore is crucial however it needn’t be laborious and time consuming. Learning to say NO does require practice. It gets easier over time as you watch your NOs clear the path for the yes projects to find you.
If you find saying NO, or knowing when to say yes or no, regular coaching can help you develop strong boundaries and processes that work. Over time, you’ll begin to be just as excited about the NO decisions as the YESES!
Quartz Sales Consulting 