A business traveler I know arrived at the gate about an hour ahead of his 3:40 flight, just in time to spot his boss boarding an earlier flight to the same destination. He asked the gate attendant if the plane was full. “It’s about halfway full,” was the reply.
“Great,” said the traveler. “Can I get on this flight on standby?”
“No.”
My acquaintance tried to appeal to common sense. No dice. The answer was no, and that was that.
No one likes hearing the word no. It triggers all kinds of negative emotions and reactions. In fact, research indicates that it’s not even a good word for parents to use with young children. That’s because “no” makes a forbidden activity more intriguing and can even make a child more determined to do it. Well, your grown-up customers are not that different. When they hear “no,” their brains shift into defensive mode, making them more determined to change your mind and get you to “yes.”
“No” is a hope destroyer. It also signifies a lack of effort. If your first response is a flat-out “no,” you’re essentially saying that you’ve taken the easy way out and will not be making any effort to find ways to make the customer happy. That’s basically what that airline told me over and over again in that story I shared in Rule #2 (“You Win Customers One at a Time and Lose Them a Thousand at a Time”). My grandson Jullian, who watched the whole situation unfold, said that the difference between that airline and Southwest is that “Southwest says yes.”
Remember Nancy Reagan’s “Just say no” campaign back in the 1980s? Well, it didn’t win the war on drugs, and it surely won’t win the war for customer loyalty. For that, you want the exact opposite: Just don’t say no! Better yet, add a key word, so it becomes “No problem.” As in “No problem. I understand your situation. Let me see what I can do,” or “No problem. I’ll need to speak to my supervisor. May I call you back in an hour?”
Even in cases where you’re unable to grant the customer’s request, you should still avoid the word no. Phrase your answer in a way that leaves the door open and gives the customer hope: “Let me see what I can do. Can I get back to you on that tomorrow?” Then get to work quickly and find a way to satisfy the request or come up with a reasonable alternative—and make sure you actually do follow up when you say you will, if not sooner. The answer may still be no, but don’t let that word reach your tongue. Instead, focus on—and lead with—what you can do for the customer. Say something like “I can give you a store credit, but I’m sorry to say that I can’t refund your money,” or “We’ll be happy to repair it, but I was not able to get approval to give you a new one.” Your customer might be disappointed, but she’ll appreciate the sincerity of your effort and will likely keep doing business with you.
In short, saying “no” should be the very last resort. Don’t say it until you have exhausted every reasonable way to satisfy the customer, and if it comes down to a flat-out “no,” the person who says it should be a manager, a supervisor, or the owner of the business.
What if the customer’s request is so outrageous that you not only want to say “no,” you want to tell him he’s off his rocker? Fight the urge (remember Rule #33, “Never, Ever Argue with a Customer”). Pause, smile, and ask for some time to carefully review the issue—even if you know there’s not a snowball’s chance in hell that you can give him what he wants. Tell him exactly when you’ll get back to him, and follow through on that promise. Most people are far more reasonable after a cooling-down period, especially if they see you’ve at least put forth an effort.
When I worked at Disney, a young man phoned my office one day, howling mad. He was upset because at a performance in one of the theme parks, a cast member had told his girlfriend to stop taking photos. I explained the reasons for the policy: The camera flash is a safety hazard for the performers and a bother to the other guests. He insisted that they had been treated rudely and that the incident had ruined their vacation. Then he demanded compensation; he said he would accept nothing less than a free vacation at the resort, plus airfare from New York.
I knew this was never going to happen. Nevertheless, I told the opportunistic young man that I would call him in a few days after I’d had a chance to look into the issue. By the time I did, he had cooled off. I said I was unable to give him exactly what he wanted and asked him to think about what else would make him happy. In the end, we agreed that the next time he planned a trip to Disney World, he would call my office so I could arrange something special for him and his girlfriend. You’ll notice that at no point during this conversation did I utter the word no.
As a manager, you can use this strategy not only with customers, but with employee requests. Let’s say you’ve posted the schedule for the week and then someone asks for Saturday off. You could make things easy for yourself by just saying “no.” But long-term, that “no” might prove costly if the employee starts doing a shoddy job because he’s upset by your attitude, or looks for a job at a company whose management is more flexible, or treats your customers the way you treated him. Instead, you could say, “Give me a day to work on this. I’ll try to get someone to take your shift.” The key word is “try.” If you really do try and still have to turn down the request, the employee will appreciate your effort and feel that you treated him with respect.
As I was reviewing the final draft of this book, I experienced an excellent example of never-say-no service. At the time, Priscilla and I happened to be traveling and were staying at the Kybele, a sixteen-room hotel in Istanbul. In the lounge one evening, Priscilla asked our server, a man named Yasar Cetinkaya, if they had any cookies. There were no cookies in sight and no mention of them on the menu. Instead of saying “no,” Yasar asked, “With sugar, or no sugar?” Priscilla said, “With sugar.” Yasar smiled and left. A few minutes later he returned, a bit out of breath, with a plate of chocolate cookies. Priscilla had a hunch that he had left the premises to get those cookies, so she asked him. Yasar confessed that he had run down the street to another hotel. End result: Priscilla got some delicious chocolate cookies, Yasar received a big tip, I got a great story, and the Kybele Hotel got a nice recommendation in this book.
The bottom line is this: It’s almost always better to try to come up with a solution than to say “no” right off the bat. In my book, “no” is one of the more unpleasant words in the English language. “No problem,” on the other hand, is music to my ears, just as it is to the ears of your customers.