Saying ‘Yes’ to Something Means ‘No’ to Something Else…

One day as a young sales rep, a customer called me and explained that they forgot to order a rollstand for their new monitor. They thought they wouldn't need one because they planned to store it on a table, but changed their mind. They politely asked me to drop everything I was doing, and drive three hours there and three hours back to loan them a rollstand until theirs arrived in 4-6 weeks.

I didn't know any better, so I eagerly hopped in my car and spent an entire day doing that customer a favor. The customer appreciated it, but honestly not as much as I thought they would.

By saying YES to that request, I was saying NO to a lot of other things. I said NO to:

- Doing my 40 cold-calls that I had planned to do that day
- The two quotes that I had promised to get out that day but couldn't because I was in the car driving all day
- Lunch with my mom

Customer relationships are SO important, but would the customer have been mad if I had said I wasn't able to accomodate the request? Years later I asked them about it, and the Biomed laughed and said he figured it was a long shot anyway and was shocked that I agreed. If I had politely declined, he wouldn't have batted an eye. I definitely made the wrong decision that day.

I think about this often when people ask me to do things. If I say yes, what am I saying no to? Volunteering at school is so important, but what are you giving up when you agree to spend those precious hours at school instead of at home? Saying YES to staying up late to watch TV means saying NO to getting up early to exercise.

Have you ever thought about it this way? Let me know!