If there’s any rule by which I have taken aim at abiding above all things in the four years since I started my business, it’s saying yes. One of the primary reasons I left a job that I loved was because I found myself saying no in much greater abundance than I was saying yes. Whether it was that I didn’t have a meeting room large enough, or I didn’t have the rate my client needed, or I didn’t have a hotel in the city they were traveling to, the occasions of my saying yes were getting fewer and fewer. I haven’t said no in four years.
For one, there’s always a meeting room large enough, the rate my clients need, or a hotel in the city they’re traveling to – I’ll find it. I’m not bound by one brand’s portfolio. But my saying yes goes way beyond my client’s requests.
Unless I have a prior commitment, I also say yes to just about every invitation to meet in person by my industry supplier colleagues. I say yes to just about every informational luncheon, networking reception, fundraiser, or seminar. With authority I decree that the only thing I can guarantee by not attending these events is that I won’t meet anyone, that I won’t make that important connection, and that I may have left business on the table.
Just saying yes is as positive an attitude as one can have in business. People naturally want to surround themselves with positive people. And customers naturally want to work with positive businesses. If there’s one thing I can attribute to quick and last success in business, it’s saying yes whenever possible.