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Five Reasons I Can't Say, "No!"

1/31/2023

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You are on your way to a conference to enjoy a few days of networking and training. You are excited to be away from the office for a few days to soak in new ideas and find inspiration to keep doing your job. You get checked into the hotel and start making some new friends.

Your cell phone buzzes. You ignore it.

It dings and buzzes again. You keep trying to ignore it.

Finally, you take a moment to check your phone and discover an email notification of an RFP your boss wants you to look at. You see a text from your boss asking if you got her email. As you open the email you get a phone call. It's your boss wondering why you haven't answered your email or text.

You explain that you were just reading the email when she called. She frantically explains the proposal is due in 5 days. We have to respond to this. Can you work on it at your conference?

You are deflated. You realize every spare moment you have will be spent putting together a rushed proposal. No networking. No extra time discussing marketing issues with colleagues. No downtime to just enjoy being out of the office.

Why can't I say, "No?"
Many A/E/C marketers ask themselves this question regularly. We get unreasonable requests that ignore who we are and what we were hired to do. So why can't we say "No" when it would be perfectly appropriate to say "No?"

There are several reasons why most A/E/C marketers cannot say, "No."
  1. We are a people-pleasers. By nature, most marketing professionals have a people-pleasing personality. We want people to like us. We want our supervisors and colleagues to think we are all-stars and can magically perform whenever called upon. While this level of performance is possible, it is not sustainable.
  2. We think we are on the bottom rung of authority. In this industry, the billable employees are the top rung, and the overhead employees are the bottom rung. This will remain true unless you challenge it.
  3. We are afraid of losing our job. Face it! You still make decisions based in fear. Fear of losing your job keeps you from developing into a real leader. You are partially right. Some supervisors will fire you if you are not a "yes sir" kind of employee. So, you have to ask yourself, "Do I want to work for a company that undervalues me and will not allow me to exercise marketing leadership?"
  4. We don't value how marketing can improve the company's bottom line and growth trajectory. We allow ourselves to be pigeonholed into nothing more than a proposal coordinator. Meanwhile all our great marketing ideas stay hidden and untapped because we do not value the whole picture of marketing.
  5. We do not think of ourselves as leaders. Leadership requires risk and vulnerability. Leadership means sticking your neck out for what you believe in. Leaders are confident they can make a positive difference and keep their focus on what can be instead of what is. Stop making excuses, and be a leader!
You can say, "No!" You have permission as a marketing leader to say, "No" to the tasks and business practices that are getting your company nowhere. Your role is to educate your leaders on what good marketing looks like. You can try and people please for so long until you burn out frustrated and stressed.

Back to the opening scenario. The boss says you have 5 days to respond to the urgent RFP. Rather than shriveling up into a ball of nerves and anger, resentfully saying, "yes," you can do the following.
  • Ask when we received the RFP? Were we expecting this RFP now? What makes this proposal "urgent?"
  • Have we asked our Go No Go questions to see if this is a valid, high-win opportunity?
  • Do we have a good relationship with the client? If so, can we inform them we cannot respond to this RFP within the deadline because our marketing team is away at a training conference?
  • If we do not have a good relationship with the client, then why is this proposal so "urgent?"
​These questions will reveal whether good marketing principles are being followed. Maybe the RFP has been sitting on someone's desk for two weeks and they forgot to send it to marketing. Maybe the client has already pre-selected their consultant. So, issuing an unreasonable deadline is a way to weed out competitors. Maybe your supervisor has not been properly educated on why Go No Go processes save time and money on no-win opportunities.

Learn how to say, "No!" Saying "No" effectively means a lot of groundwork has been laid before having to say, "No." At the end of the day, it is your responsibility, A/E/C marketer, to lead your company in marketing excellence.
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Lead Yourself!

11/9/2021

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​Leaders are taught, not born.

Leaders are learners, not naturally talented.

Leaders learn from failure, not always successful.

To be a good leader, one must want to lead and put in the necessary work. Ford Harding, the author of the bestselling book, Rain Making: Attract New Clients No Matter What Your Field, says he discovered several commonalities in all-star business leaders.
  1. Leaders are highly productive early in their careers
    Leaders learned early to develop client relationships and build loyalty. These young professionals found the unpopular project others in the firm did not like and cranked out project after project in unpopular disciplines. This mix of client relationship building and productivity creates marketing savvy few young professionals are willing to develop.
  2. Leaders take an interest in marketing early in their careers.
    Leaders find marketing tasks they are either good at or can develop and exercise those tasks to perfection. For some, it may be networking and the ability to build a large and loyal network of professionals who feed them consistent leads. For others, it may be writing excellent marketing content, project photography, presenting subject matter expertise, cross-selling other services, etc.
  3. Leaders credential themselves and never stop learning.
    Whatever your field, leaders understand the value of credentialing and specializing. Leaders discover opportunities to both expand and deepen their skills, both technical and business. Formal recognition of your abilities establishes trust and confidence with clients. Great leaders never stop learning or growing in their profession.
  4. Leaders look for ways to improve their firm’s services.
    Beyond their personal brand and ability to produce, leaders have a keen eye for continual improvement. Leaders find ways to save money, create efficiencies, and improve the business performance of their firms. And this happens primarily because leaders find ways to make and keep clients happy.
  5. Leaders become specialists.
    Leaders eventually become specialists. Rather than generalizing, doing different projects with different clients in different markets, leaders hone in on one or two areas of specialty and become experts with deep knowledge and experience. This depth creates a bench of steady clients and a stellar reputation within the leader’s given market.

My challenge to you is this. Make yourself a good leader. Do not settle for letting your career come to you, but create the career you want. Be productive, learn to market, credential, improve your company, and specialize. 
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Power Made Perfect in Weakness

9/9/2021

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There is a verse in the Bible that says, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). While there is a spiritual context for this truth, I believe the truth of power coming from weakness is also wisdom for our lives. It is true, that God has a knack for doing big things, grand things, in very small packages, even weak objects. Jesus fed thousands from one boy’s sack lunch. So, what does this have to do with marketing professional services?

I have heard many technical professionals in the engineering profession simply dismiss themselves from being good at marketing and business development. This is because most technical professionals see themselves as weak in the primary skills of good marketing. They see marketing as requiring soft skills they do not have. Sometimes, it may be that they are good at it, but simply do not enjoy it. Time spent flattering clients, schmoozing at a networking event, or entertaining on the golf course is not how they wish to spend their time. Therefore, they simply chalk it up to weakness and excuse themselves from marketing.

But the wisdom of Scripture and promise of God is to demonstrate His power, specifically in your weaknesses. The very skills and personality traits you dismiss as weak, and, consequently, never exercise, are the very weaknesses in which God wishes to demonstrate power. For example, by personality and nature, I am not well-organized. I tend to be forgetful and distracted. However, many years ago, I committed to doing better and submitted this weakness to God asking for help and practicing better organization skills. Now, God has demonstrated His power in me, making me well-organized. I encourage you to exercise skills that are naturally weak in you. Ask God for help. His power can be made perfect in your weakness.

​Another way of examining this same truth is to think of every weakness as a two-sided coin. It is not unusual for people to discover that some of their greatest weaknesses are actually great strengths in disguise. One of my other weaknesses (other than being naturally disorganized), is to jump in to make recommendations or suggestions when I should just be quiet and listen. This is obnoxious and tends to shut others down who take more time to think things through before speaking up. While I have worked on this weakness and tried to keep my mouth shut in a group and let others speak first, there are situations when speaking up early is helpful to the group leader. Because I am comfortable speaking up, I try to recognize each situation and behave in a manner that is best for the group. 

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    Author

    Gabe Lett, FSMPS, CPSM, LPC

    - Fellow of the Society for Marketing Professional Services
    - Certified Professional Services Marketer
    ​- Licensed Professional Counselor

    View my profile on LinkedIn

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