getting to yes — John Reggio

Last post I tried to form a habit. Well, it's weeks later and all I can say is life got in the way. It's time to give it another shot. Years ago I sold ERP Software to mid-sized companies. The software company gave me a book to read, and then I had to read it again a couple of years later in business school. It's called Getting to Yes. There is no business skill more important than bringing people to mutual agreement.

The line of business I work in caters to thousands of small customers. For years we were the only company who provided our type of advertising platform. This allowed the company to have strict credit and discounting policies. If it didn't comply with the policy we said no. It was black and white - non-negotiable. Over the years, the company garnered a reputation for being difficult to work with and arrogant. Of course we also started to face competitors and our sales growth slowed.

I spoke earlier about simplifying and our goals of increasing sales, average order size and retention rate. We can't continue to be black and white in our policies if want to achieve these goals. I was chatting with our EVP and she told me, "I want us to find a way to say yes." That reminded me of the book I mentioned from business school. We may think the discount the sales rep wants to offer is too high, or disagree with the customer's disputed payment, but we can't simply say, "No." We have to find common ground. We need to find a way to bring both parties to an agreement. We need to get to yes.