TAKE THE WORD “NO” OUT OF YOUR DAMN VOCABULARY
For years, I’ve had a question stuck in my head. And no matter how hard I try, I can never come up with a good answer:
Why is it so easy to say no when you can say yes to a customer?
That’s a simple question but, as I said, I’ve never come across what I would consider a fair answer.
In the world of business, particularly for entrepreneurs and businesses just starting out, it would seem to be such an easy question to answer. A customer asks for something, and you say, “Yes, no problem.” End of story.
But in many ways, businesses say no to customers all the time. And it’s one hell of a mistake.
It can be as simple as saying you can’t make a customer scrambled eggs after 11:00 a.m., like the example in the previous chapter. With my experience in the hotel business, it can be as simple as telling a customer he can’t have his suit cleaned and back to him by the next morning, since he missed the deadline by thirty minutes.
Sometimes saying no to a customer has a higher price than pissing off someone who would be happy if you just said yes. Say a customer asks to substitute shrimp for oysters. I know for a fact they cost you the same. Charge a substitution fee, but don’t tell them no.
“Why is it so easy to say no when you can say yes?”
I really can’t say why this sort of thing happens—a casual attitude toward work maybe, or a sense that customers tolerate more these days—but there’s an easy solution to all this: take the word no out of your damn vocabulary.
I preach that all the time. Never, ever say no to a customer. And there are plenty of reasons never to say no beyond the obvious one that you might alienate an otherwise happy customer.
LISTEN!
If you think about it, saying no to a customer usually doesn’t mean that you can’t do something. Instead, you’re choosing not to do something.
That’s a big difference. Obviously, in some situations you can’t do something. Say your business is scheduled to make a delivery to a retailer, but a major storm is flooding roads everywhere. In that instance, telling your customer you’re going to be late is understandable. No one can control the weather.
And, in some cases, what a customer asks for can be completely unreasonable. In all fairness, not every customer is going to ask for something that’s realistic, like the customer who asks for a refund after devouring an entire steak. When that happens, saying yes can be hard to do.
But in far many more instances, saying no translates to someone saying they choose not to do what the customer asks.
Let’s go back to the scrambled eggs example from chapter 1. A customer wants scrambled eggs, but it’s way past breakfast time. The server says they can’t make scrambled eggs.
Wait a minute. Is the kitchen out of eggs? Are all the skillets dirty? Have the chickens gone on strike?
Of course not. Everything’s there to make a perfectly good plate of scrambled eggs. Yet the restaurant is choosing to say no to a customer.
Believe it or not, I think customers pick up on this much more than you might imagine. They know full well that when someone says, “I can’t,” it really means “I won’t.” Think about that. How would you feel if a business told you no, pretty much because they didn’t feel like doing it, not because it was beyond their ability to agree to what you asked for?
That’s a bad situation to put yourself in. First off, customers who hear no are made to feel as though they’re expendable, that their business doesn’t matter. I like to say there are no spare customers, and saying no to one is a certain way to make them feel unimportant, fast. Don’t put yourself in a position to tell your customer no. If you run out of ice cream, hamburger buns, tomatoes, whatever, go to the damn grocery store and get some. You can tell your customer you’re out of Wagyu beef, but not something you can get at a grocery store down the street.
“There are no spare customers.”
I also like to say it’s essential to treat every customer like he or she is the only one you have. But saying no to someone can make him or her feel like a number, just another item on the list. With just one word—no—you can be telling that customer, “I’m saying no to you because you really don’t matter.”
It’s also important to bear in mind that when you wipe the word no out of your customer vocabulary, that doesn’t necessarily mean you have to say an outright yes. Offer alternatives, a sort of “I can’t do that for you, sir, but I can do this.” If a customer likes your product in a particular color that you don’t happen to have, suggest a color close to it. If your restaurant is out of a menu item that a customer orders, offer her a discount to come back the next night, when she can get the food she wants. You’re not telling them no—instead, it’s a qualified yes.
In short, say what you can do, not what you can’t.
That’s an important message to get across. Even if you can’t meet the customer’s exact request, you’re showing a willingness to do something else to keep him or her happy. Again, it’s a matter of choice—you’re choosing to take those extra steps to make someone feel special and valued.
Taking the word no out of your vocabulary also encourages you and anyone else with whom you work to think on your feet. In many ways, saying no is the easy way out of a situation. But if you refuse to say no, you often have to come up with some alternatives quickly. That can build a business that’s responsive and flexible in all sorts of ways. (Later, I discuss the importance of thinking on your feet.)
All this may seem very simple, and it is. But you’d be shocked at how many businesses with great products and services inadvertently shoot themselves in the foot by telling customers no in all sorts of ways. However, if you’re aware of it and make a consistent, conscious effort to never tell a customer no, you’re going to see results.
You don’t always need to say yes to a customer. But never saying no may be one of the most valuable strategies you can use to help your business break out to the next level.
TILMAN’S TARGETS
• Never tell a customer no.
• There are no spare customers.
• Understand the difference between being unable to do something for a customer and choosing not to do something.
• If you can’t say yes, offer alternatives.
• Never saying no encourages you and everyone involved in your business to think on their feet.