Mary Schmidt Marketing Troubleshooter

“It won’t work.” “We can’t because _____.” “They will never agree.” “He’ll never pay that.” “It’s against policy.” “It’s too hard.” “We don’t have enough time.” Any of this sound familiar? Have you said it yourself? (stop that!)

Next time somebody says any of these to you…stand up and say, “hey, wait a minute!…”How CAN we make it work?”….”How do we know they won’t agree?” “Let’s not say ‘no’ for the customer!” “Why do we have the policy in the first place?” “What else are we doing that’s more important?” Personally, I’ve always found it’s better to beg for forgiveness (and, believe me, I’ve had to do some groveling in my life) – than ask for permission. And, most corporate policy and procedures manuals make great footrests. Sure, we need some common sense here and there, but if the human race had always taken the safe, whiner route…we’d still be sitting in caves throwing rocks at the freaky guy who was rubbing two sticks together….and “Oh, that round thing Uga calls a ‘wheel’ (snicker) It’ll never work!”

I leave you with a quote from Helen Keller, “Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. The fearful are caught as often as the bold.”