“Nope, we can’t do that,” I said curtly to the potential client. I knew my team would not be able to fulfill their request, and as my colleague and I sat in that meeting, I prided myself in not committing to something our company couldn’t deliver. After all, I ran the PMO and was the person responsible for delivering the technology projects that would be sold.
“Wait, wait, wait…” my colleague, ever the sales pro, said. “We may not be able to do that, but we will be able to do this instead…will that work?”
“Sure, that’ll be just fine,” said the potential, soon-to-be-paying client.
Wow, huge lesson learned. Instead of saying what YOU CAN’T DO, offer up what YOU CAN DO. More often than not that will be just fine. Those of us who have been around technology for some time are often caught up in a black and white, on or off mentality. Getting someone closer to their goal with an 80% phased approach is much better than languishing at 0% with an all or nothing approach.
Just be sure to come back and finish the 20%!
