The Rarest of Skills: The Ability to Say "NO" to a Customer

I've recently reflected on how difficult it is to say "no" to customers, and of course recognize we are trained to always say "yes" (or at least that's how it was when I was a cog in the corporate wheel). I used to work in purchasing, where we felt like the end of a dog's wagging tail, getting whipped back and forth by changing customer requirements. I couldn't imagine what was wrong with those idiots in sales: can't they grasp the concept of material or capacity constraints, or understand that lead times are a reality?

Then I became a corporate trainer working for myself (note: the cynics claim self-employed is just a fancy term for self-unemployed). I very quickly realized we don't say "no" to customers because we love revenue, which, as it happens, is a very useful resource for buying groceries, paying the electric bill, etc. But not saying "no", isn't the same thing as always saying "yes" to any customer request without regard to whether we can actually make it happen, much less make it happen and make money while doing so. Rather than give a straight yes or no answer, we should advise the customer as to what we can do for them. Let us say that the customer wishes to have 10,000 widgets in two weeks, and it's not possible. Perhaps the reply is "we can ship out 5,000 by the end of the month and the balance two weeks after that." This implies some potential negotiation or back-and-forth with the customer and also our internal operations to ensure we are only promising what is feasible.

There are times when clients make requests for training topics that, while not something I advertise as my forte, are things that I can create and deliver. I'm proud to get unusual requests, as it says the client's have faith in me. But there are times that I need to consider what's best for the customer, and maybe I'm not the right resource. I have no problem referring them to friends or associates that are the body-of-knowledge experts, as I'd prefer to forgo the revenue if I don't meet my own quality standards (even when the customer is convinced I meet theirs). I think customers really appreciate this. One is reminded of the scene in "Miracle on 34th Street" when the Macy's department store Santa sends customers to a rival because they have better ice skates. Macy's management team is initially outraged, but the public reaction is overwhelmingly favorable to the idea that someone would refer a rival, and Macy's benefits.

We may also need to consider the appropriateness of customer requests... do they really know what's best for them? I've found that is not always the case. The late, great Don Frank (a dear friend and colleague) was fond of lamenting that "our greatest challenge is dealing with people who do not know what they do not know." It is truly an unenviable position to find ourselves faced with the choice between saying "yes" and delivering a product that won't help the customer or trying to convince them you know best. If we are successful at customer relationship management, then hopefully we have earned the client's trust and they will take our advice. If they are stubborn and insist they know best... well, maybe they don't need my services.

I understand that some organizations defend the status quo and will always defer to any customer request, always saying "yes", regardless of any negative effects on profitability and/or morale. For those companies, I offer some free advice: fire your customer account reps! It would be much cheaper to have a recording play back "yes" than keeping a person on payroll.