The Power of Saying No: How to Protect Your Time, Team, and Outcomes

The need to make tough decisions will always be on the list of challenges facing business leaders. I bring this up because the next thing I want to mention may surprise some of you. I recently said “no” to a prospect, and it wasn’t difficult to do so. That’s right, the decision to walk away from this opportunity was relatively easy. And I’d like to propose that with the right framework and mindset, you too, will be able to remove saying “no” to certain prospects from your list of tough decisions as a business owner.

But wait, why would any business say no to an opportunity? Isn’t the purpose of business to say yes to more clients and projects? The truth is, saying no at the appropriate times can actually prove to be a long-term growth strategy.

Saying “no” comes down to strategic focus. And with proper focus, these decisions prove less difficult to make. Let’s unpack this a bit and learn why placing focus on the following four areas helped me say “no” to this recent opportunity:

• Edge

• Standards

• Relationships

• Time
  

Edge

Your business has a unique edge: your competitive advantage, your area(s) of expertise, your sweet spot. When you are tempted to say yes to opportunities that fall outside your edge, you risk diluting deliverables, client experiences and profits.

Although tempting for short-term gain, avoiding opportunities that deviate from your business’ core competencies, will most likely prove more valuable, favorable, and sustainable in the long-term.

Refine your unique competitive advantages: your edge. Stay true to the picture it creates in your mind, and be sure to stay inside the lines.

Standards

Reflect on your professional standards and how you conduct business. This can include your values, your processes, your philosophies, your brand identity, and more. I’m certain you hold these standards in high regard. It may have actually taken you years to hone them. It’s not always easy, but reminding yourself of these standards will help you recognize the warning signs that sometime appear when assessing opportunities. For long-term sustained growth, heed these yellow and red flags, avoiding the temptation to make exceptions (you know you’ve done this).

Adhering to your standards serves as a position of clarity for you, your team, and your market. Respect your standards. View them as your north star to help you stay the course.

Relationships

We may need to remind ourselves of this professional reality from time to time, but business is built on relationships. Put simply, without people there is no business.

Professional relationships fall into a multitude of categories. Two I will mention here include your team and your clients.

From your team’s perspective, partnering with well-aligned clients proves most rewarding. Creating this environment has the highest potential of avoiding sustained fatigue, diminished return, and even burnout from your team. Keeping your team focused on the right client mix can deliver exponential return, not just in terms of profitability, but in terms of job satisfaction, retention, and recruitment as well.

From you client’s perspective, avoiding mis-aligned business affords them a higher probability that your focus will remain on them, and not be distracted by the inevitable pull toward that “other client”. You know what I’m referring to…mis-aligned clients just seem to command more of your attention and resources. These distractions have a high probability of eroding rapport with your best client partners. And your best clients don’t like to lose out to the squeakiest wheel getting your attention. Your best clients have earned and deserve your appreciation.

Choosing the best aligned client opportunities not only has the ability to bolster two of your key business relationship categories (your team and your clients), but in-turn will help strengthen two of your most valuable business metrics: client and employee satisfaction.

Time

Arguably this is the one with the highest value. The trouble is, when challenged to be honest about time-value, we most likely find ourselves straying from the respect it deserves. Time and time management is elusive, and that’s one reason we struggle with how to leverage its true power.

Misaligned opportunities erode your time. Aligned opportunities produce value for your time. If you agree with the previous statement, wouldn’t saying no to a misaligned opportunity allow you a better chance of prioritizing your time more appropriately? It can be one of those tough decisions in business but taking a leap of faith and saying no for the reasons we’ve already discussed, can actually keep you and your organization mentally and operationally available to say yes when the truly better opportunity comes along.

Back to the Beginning

So, for me, staying focused on the four areas we just reviewed allowed me to confidently pass on an opportunity that fell outside the criteria I have found provides the best likelihood for success: for both me and my clients. This particular prospect's requests would have pushed me outside the lines of my areas of expertise and would have required me to shift off course from my practice standards, process, and framework. As our introductory conversation evolved, yellow flags were quickly followed by red flags…easy call.

Keep your focus and remain confident in your core competencies, stay true to your standards, respect your relationships, and value your time. Collectively, saying no will help you say yes to your best clients, your best work, and your best outcomes.

Continued Success.