When to say No and make it a Yes

Saying yes is important, it opens doors to new opportunities in life, say no and you close a door. Or do you?

Sometimes when we say yes to something we are actually saying the opposite to what the person asking the question wants to hear.   As our business grows our clients expect that we will want to do more, sell more and make more.  That is a given, it shows good business acumen.

But what about when you over promise?  What if you agree to do something and you can't really do it and your client knows it too? What does that say about you?

Clients are not fools, they know what your business can and cannot do, they want you to succeed but they will not accept you risking their business for your growth.

So if a client asks you to do something and you are not geared up for it, or you know you cannot deliver it, do not be the old school sales man and say yes.  Say no. Explain why, may be you just need a week longer, may be their time scales are too short, may be their price point is too low.  If you cannot do it then say so, they will respect you for it and it you have a great relationship they will say "OK, so what do we need to do?"

They may ask you to do something that they know is not possible to see if you say yes to everything, to see if you really have their interests at heart.  If you do not see this, your yes becomes a no. If you do see this your no becomes a yes.