Saying no is an instrument of integrity and a shield against exploitation. 

But it’s also a useful business strategy. Not for selling, but for enabling people to buy. 

I listen to a lot of interviews with movie producers, television executives and entertainment lawyers and celebrity agents. And one strategy they all agree on is, the best way to get what you want is to say no. It sounds counterintuitive and foolish, but to a person of power, saying no is like chum in the water. It ignites their persistence. It motivates them double down on their pursuit of your product. 

After all, they’re used to hearing yes at the drop of a hat. 

And so, the unexpected rejection earns their attention and attracts their interest. Because when you walk away from the table, the buyer is left with an impression that he is missing out on something. 

I have a friend who runs a boutique advertising agency, and his company closes ten percent of the business he says no to. Ten percent. That’s criminal. But he says that by rejecting lucrative offers, certain prospects come to desire and respect his services even more. That’s how confidence changes the conversation. 

What’s more, the owner of the company trusts that the opportunity won’t go away, that the rejection won’t come off as selfish and that he won’t hurt the prospect’s feelings. 

Think about it. Parents employ this strategy every day. How else are they supposed to get kids to eat broccoli? Tell them they’re not old enough to eat those foods yet. How else are they supposed to get kids ready for school? Tell them they’re not sure they can get ready fast enough. 

It’s strategic oppositionalism. Reverse psychology. Giving the child independence and power and pride. 

And the good news is, customers are no different. They’re just big kids with money. 

Don’t fret over the consequences of refusing. Saying no won’t tilt the world on its axis. Try rejecting a few customers and see if they close you.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

Do you have the force of character to say no?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…

For the list called, “99 Ways to Think Like an Entrepreneur, Even If You Aren’t One,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.  

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

Never the same speech twice. Customized for your audience. Impossible to walk away uninspired.

Now booking for 2016-2017.

Email to inquire about fees and availability. Watch clips of The Nametag Guy in action here!

All customers are control freaks. 

It’s a basic human tendency. People operate out of a model to feel autonomous and in control of their environment and actions. 

And so, anything service providers can do to reinforce people’s sense of control over the direction of the customer experience, is helpful. I recently conducted a weeklong staff training program with about three hundred hotel employees. Interestingly, in each of our sessions, the most suggested technique for preserving control was giving customers options. Framing answers to their requests and complaints and problems in multiple choice form. Quantifying and objectifying the situation to put their nerves at ease. 

For example, if a guest wasn’t happy with their room, the concierge wouldn’t immediately offer to put them somewhere better. Instead, they would ask the guest which of the following three types of environment they might prefer. 

The room on the top floor with the balcony, the room on the third flood adjacent to the fitness center, or the room at the end of the hall where it’s quiet and secluded. 

Because who are they to assume they know what the customer wants? Better to put the ball in their court and allow them to take ownership over the problem. Because until customers see their own fingerprint on the solution, they never fully feel in control of their environment. 

Ultimately, the more choices we allow customers to make, the more they feel in control. The more they feel in control, the more they believe they’re actualizing their potential. And the more they believe they’re actualizing their potential, the less likely they are to write a scathing online review about their experience. 

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

Are you creating expectational clarity by offering readily available, reliable information?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…

For the list called, “99 Ways to Think Like an Entrepreneur, Even If You Aren’t One,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.  

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

Never the same speech twice. Customized for your audience. Impossible to walk away uninspired.

Now booking for 2016-2017.

Email to inquire about fees and availability. Watch clips of The Nametag Guy in action here!

There’s a difference between being selfless, and doing something because you’ll feel like a bad person if you don’t do it. 

One is a form of giving from a place of abundance, the other is a form of draining yourself because you’re afraid of not bending over backwards for others. 

It’s textbook people pleasing behavior. We so badly want to feel loved and needed and accepted, that we allow other people’s needs and feelings to take precedence over ours. But because accommodating others is so ingrained in us, stopping is not only difficult, it’s terrifying. 

And so, we wind up with multiple boundary violations, alienated from our true self, wondering why we’re not happy. Tragic. 

It’s so hard to watch people put themselves at the bottom of their own list. I remember when our marriage counselor taught us a helpful technique for overcoming this kind of behavior. During the planning of our wedding, for example, she suggested using a code word anytime there was a questionable people pleasing moment. 

If a parent or relative or vendor asked my wife and I for a particular commitment, before saying yes to their request, one of us would respond, we need to go to our office to discuss, and we’ll be back in a few minutes. 

This stalling maneuver bought us time, allowed us to think clearly and enabled us to make decisions as a team. And to our surprise, nobody ever had a problem with it. In fact, some family members even commented at how effective the office technique was. 

That’s what happens when you set a boundary honestly, respectfully and most importantly, jointly. 

Remember, the heart has limits. You cannot care about everything. And if you don’t set boundaries, other people will set them for you. And then they will violate them. Because you didn’t set a precedent. 

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

What code words do you use to put yourself at the top of your own list?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…

For the list called, “99 Ways to Think Like an Entrepreneur, Even If You Aren’t One,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.  

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

Never the same speech twice. Customized for your audience. Impossible to walk away uninspired.

Now booking for 2016-2017.

Email to inquire about fees and availability. Watch clips of The Nametag Guy in action here!

Labels are fables. 

Attempt something beyond the perimeter of your own
constituted identity. Seek total exhaustion from tasks that are outside of your
traditional skill set. 

Because even when you’re out of your depth, odds are,
you’ll rise to the occasion and get the job done. And you might even learn
something in the process. You’ll surprise yourself just how capable you really
are. And the satisfaction of knowing that all systems are operating will be
worthwhile. 

I recently played a concert that was vastly different than my usual
performance style. Different songs, different venue, different audience,
different equipment and different partner. 

And frankly, I was terrified. I even
had an anxiety dream the night before the show. Because the gig was far outside
of my comfort zone. 

But once we got a few songs into the set, I knew we were
creating something special. Something that wasn’t available to me with the
previous definition of myself. In fact, the club owner told us that we brought
the biggest crowd they’d had in years. 

Proving, that when you find ways to feel
engaged and tested and stretched beyond what you have done before, people will
follow. No labels, no limits. 

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

What activity could you do to expand your sense of who you are?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…

For the list called, “99 Ways to Think Like an Entrepreneur, Even If You Aren’t One,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.  

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

Never the same speech twice. Customized for your audience. Impossible to walk away uninspired.

Now booking for 2016-2017.

Email to inquire about fees and availability. Watch clips of The Nametag Guy in action here!

Once you announce, even to yourself, that you seek something, you create tension. 

Because at that point, you’re in two places at the same time. Both where you are, and where you want to be. Part of your brain is in the future, and part of your brain is here now. And that discrepancy contains the energy that enables you to create. 

It’s the power of cognitive dissonance. The brain is trying to resist confusion and seek the relief of certainty wherever it can find it. 

That’s why documenting dreams is so important. Writing something down gets it out of your head and into the world, making it separate from you, proving that your dream is an action, not rehearsal. 

My latest concert documentary explores this very theme. How to make use of everything you are. In fact, as a companion piece to the movie, I also created a limited edition dream journal. These oversized, hard cover art books allow people to create the necessary tension, movement and discrepancy that their dreams require. 

Proving, that anything new that you do is movement. That when you know what you want, you can let it carry you. Because even the tiniest action, like making a list of one hundred goals for the upcoming year, can break the spell of inertia. 

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

What structures do you need adopt to create the results you want?
LET ME SUGGEST THIS…

For the list called, “99 Ways to Think Like an Entrepreneur, Even If You Aren’t One,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.  

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

Never the same speech twice. Customized for your audience. Impossible to walk away uninspired.

Now booking for 2016-2017.

Email to inquire about fees and availability. Watch clips of The Nametag Guy in action here!

LHM, one my longtime clients is a hospitality management company. They run a chain of seventeen hotels spread all around the city, all of which require their employees to wear nametags, of course.

But the best part about their uniform policy is, none of the nametags indicate job titles. Or positions. Or rank within the organization. Just names. And maybe a fun fact or a favorite food or a hidden talent or the hometown of the employee. 

But nothing more.. Because the company’s mission is personalized, humanized service. Vales before vocation. Person before profession. Identity before industry. 

What’s interesting is, these core principles are extended to the guests as well. Employees are trained to connect with them on as many levels as they possibly can, even beyond their computerized matrix of preferences presented as their essence. They truly know their customers. They’re masters of making them feel at home, even when they’re thousands of miles away. And they understand that every interaction is a relationship, regardless of how long it lasts. 

Because they’re still relating to the other person. 

From a few seconds on the front drive to a week long stay over the holiday, it’s just another chance to make guests feel less alone in the world. That’s why people keep coming back. That’s why their secret shopper scores are off the charts. That’s why online reviews are overwhelmingly positive. And that’s why their employees stay with the company for ten, twenty, sometimes thirty years. 

The nametag is merely a symbol. Not just a badge of honor, but a badge of humanity. 

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

How much longer can your company afford to be immune to ordinary human connection?
LET ME SUGGEST THIS…

For the list called, “99 Ways to Think Like an Entrepreneur, Even If You Aren’t One,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.  

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

Never the same speech twice. Customized for your audience. Impossible to walk away uninspired.

Now booking for 2016-2017.

Email to inquire about fees and availability. Watch clips of The Nametag Guy in action here!