Just say no!

Once again, I'm pressed for time, so I'll keep it short and sweet. But today, I'm on vacation, so my schedule is filled with fun stuff like shopping, meeting old coworkers for lunch, taking my toddler to see Santa, and picking up Mom from the airport!

Today's lesson is about saying no ... how it's okay to do so, and how when you do, people will respect you more. Salespeople — and all kinds of people — ought to appreciate this one, because its a big problem. Here's the deal: I don't know if it's because I live in the South, and here our culture tends to tell us to be pleasant all the time. Or, maybe people took Thumper's mother's advice to heart. (Watch Bambi again if you don't know what I mean.) "If you can't say nothin' nice, then don't say nothin' at all." Okay, yeah, I can see how this applies in many scenarios. But believe me when I tell you there are few things more annoying than being ignored. If you don't want what I'm selling, and I call you, email you, text you, Facebook you, PM you on Twitter, message you on LinkedIn (and I likely will do more than one of these things), please reply and say something like this:

Thanks, Lisa, for taking the time to tell me about your services and for following up, but I'm just not interested. OR, you might say you aren't interested at this time but to contact you again in six months or next year. It's really that simple. And, if you offer the REAL explanation for why you aren't interested, it can actually help me and my company know how to better serve people like you in the future.

Believe it or not, I don't really know what to do with no response at all. I wonder, "Did she get my messages?," "Did I somehow offend him?," "Are my products crap?," "Was my sales pitch poor?," and any number of other obsessive thoughts. Also, please don't tell me yes, have me spend hours preparing paperwork, and then when it's time to sign the contract tell me you can't because you have to go to the emergency room. (True story. And it doesn't explain why still, months later, I can't get ANY response from you.)

To review: Saying no isn't a bad thing. It can be a helpful thing. Ignoring is an annoying and potentially hurtful thing. That is all. Now, on to my fun. Have a great day!