When No is the Right Answer ~ Consultations

Friends, we are day makers. We want to make others happy and be a positive resource for them. But we could all agree that there have been times when you should've listened to your gut and refused to proceed with an appointment. We must be careful that our desire to make a sale or perform a service does not trump the time when it's necessary to say "no".

For my hair industry friends in particular, the rule of thumb is this: if you and your client aren’t able to agree on a plan within fifteen minutes, then today is not the day. It may not be their day or it may not be your day. If their expectations aren’t in line with yours, then you must be confident and you must encourage your colleagues to be confident in saying, no. “No, you cannot go from brunette to platinum today”…

Have you ever sensed your client's apprehensiveness and proceeded anyway? You felt like you performed that service perfectly and yet the client's reaction was not the excitement and validation you were hoping for. Doesn’t that hurt the most? When YOU KNOW you were flawless in your execution?! We get it...

Friends, be honest with yourselves because if you get that gut feeling you might be setting yourself up for failure if you choose to proceed. Instead, be confident and communicate why today isn’t the day to proceed in that direction.

SOLUTION

Give your client options for the future! Get them fired up about ideas you're going to send them so they can offer you feedback on those ideas. Send them your top three picks to choose from. This results in them choosing from what YOU have pre-qualified. Therefore, you are in control!  Yes, this is going to take after-hours time.  But, who does that?  Not very many professionals are committed to going above and beyond, so when you do it's going to make you the rock star!

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