Ask for forgiveness not permission.
Every once in a while you have to make a decision when you are selling. You have two options:
- You could stop, call the boss, hope he answers, ask him permission to do something a little outside the normal guidelines, hope he says yes, then tell the customer you can do it.
- You can tell the customer you can do it.
Guess which one I prefer? Your customer? Which one makes you look like you are in control?
Now obviously you have to have a situation where you are trusted enough to keep the company’s best interests in mind. If you’re not trusted enough to make decisions, then you’re probably not working for the right team (or you’re new and they don’t know you yet). The customer needs to believe that you are the one who can make most decisions – or else why are they talking to you instead of your boss? As long as you don’t go overboard with your concessions to the customer, you will gain more sales and respect from your clients and also more trust with your team.
Rule 5:
Always carry a pen.
This is a no brainer. If you can’t write down someone’s information somewhere, or write a note on your card, what are you doing?
Chris,
I once got a belt clip from Home Depot (less than $3) that had a zip-cord on it. I gorilla glued a Fisher Space Pen to it, and it ensured I always had a pen on me. Unfortunately, the space pen wasn’t up to the task and leaked (all of their claims are lies). Being tethered to a cord that always wanted to wind back up didn’t do much for my already terrible handwriting.
Now I just carry bic pens everywhere I go. If I lose it, all is well, since I have 50 more at home.
[...] Who is this mysterious group of people who is holding you back from doing the things you want to do? If you really want to be successful in whatever it is that you’re doing, then you need to stop waiting for other people to make things happen for you. Stop waiting for permission and worry about asking for forgiveness later when you have to. See Rule #4 [...]