Learn to firmly say no without losing potential customers

Avoid over-committing yourself when it comes to managing your time, career and business. It can only distract you from your own priorities. FOTOSEARCH 

By CANUTE WASWA

In Summary

• Success depends on your ability to prioritise the many opportunities and requests that come your way

The script sounds familiar. We are already off the blocks and heading into 2014.

Now, if your life is anything like mine, its already showing signs of being full to the brim and starting to overflow. We are barely three weeks into the year but there’s already so much to do-and not nearly enough time to do it.

My biggest challenge as a business consultant, writer, husband, father and entrepreneur is learning how to say “no”.

When starting out, having a passion for your business is always an asset. Business is filled with opportunities, and it’s nice when you can say yes to customers, employees and vendors. But there are times when saying yes will lead to difficulty or even disaster.

The problem is, many times we make a big deal out of saying “no”. We are afraid that we will be committing a hideous crime by saying it. We are scared that the other people will be angry, that we will be loathed for it and that we’ll be deemed as making things difficult for others.

But saying no shouldn’t be as difficult as we make it out to be.

When it’s based on price alone

If you did a good job understanding their needs, capturing their vision, and building a solution that they are convinced will help them-but they just can’t (or won’t) pay what it takes to get that outcome-then you just have to say no.

Many times, we are afraid to say “no” to clients because we are afraid we will disappoint them. We are afraid of missed opportunities. However, we must understand that we cannot be everything to everyone all the time.

Turning down additional business prospects can either feel counter-intuitive or even be difficult to do, especially when a company is starting out, but the benefits of keeping a clear focus can often outweigh missed revenue in the short-term.

Success tends to attract bigger and better opportunities. As we succeed, a key challenge becomes prioritising the many opportunities that present themselves. But some of your prospective clients are still going to still decide based on price alone.

The more value you offer, the more a client comes to depend on you. Don’t hesitate to share information clients may find useful, whether or not it benefits you in any way. After all, no long-term relationship survives if the two parties aren’t honest with each other.

Without a reputation for integrity, you’ll never be able to cultivate the kind of long-term relationships your business depends on.

Understand your limitations

It is important to know how much work you can take on. Don’t overdo it. You can only do so much. If you are receiving more work than you can handle by yourself, then it’s time to say no