Have we all seen the movie? Jim Carrey reaching for his comedy roots by saying yes to every single proposal that comes his way? It’s not a very realistic situation… or is it? (It's not that great of a movie either... or is it?)
In a business sense of the word, yes is probably the most important tool you can use. It’s not always the most efficient, nor the most beneficial, but it is important.
In Sales
Clients want to hear the word.
You want to say the word.
So why beat around it?
You want to work for us? Yes.
Can you deliver what you promised? Yes.
Will this lead to future work? Yes, of course.
There are moments of discretion in a sales transaction when you have to embody that trustworthy person who doesn’t always say yes.
But are you losing confidence that way?
Is your potential client losing confidence in you? Perhaps.
There’s no way to tell; but I know that if you’re going to say no, you better be sure to have a yes right behind it, because no client is going to want to exit a room with that sour two letter word in their mouth.
So be the trustworthy person that knows not everything can be a yes.
Recognize the no, accept its challenge, don’t be afraid to use it, then tell your client that no matter how many no’s there are, you will always have a yes to block it.
Within Your Company
If you’re an editor, designer, or grunt inside of a large company, you may be afraid to say no.
It’s all right, we all are.
It’s a scary one-syllable word that spans over 500 different languages. You could say it accidentally and cause a typhoon in Japan.
Yet if you’re working inside a creative company, you’re going to realize just how important the word no is.
When making a sale, realism isn’t important. Salesmanship is.
You want to dress up a fantasy for your client - that takes a lot of yes.
When producing a product, realism is key.
That means you’re going to have to say the word no a lot.
Does this look good? No.
Do we have time to do more? No.
Because no matter how you say no, people will stop what they are doing to consider its effect.
They will work to make that no into a yes.
Does this look good? No, but we can do this instead.
Do we have time to do more? No, but if we delegate A to B, we’ll have plenty of time.
If you keep saying yes in a work environment you’ll find yourself flooded with work, over-exhausted and explaining to your boss why a week ago you said yes and a now you’re saying, oh my lord, no.
In a Relationship
Friends or Lovers?
Well, uh, you know it’s always best to… uh
Hell, that’s too sticky. If you’re coming to me for help in that department you may have lost already.