"I thought I'd have those mock-ups by today." (Walt Disney Co.)
I had a sales whiz buddy in Florida who used to say that you never tell a customer “No.” “When a customer asks, if it comes in blue, you respond, ‘Do you want it in blue?’”
When customers are hard to come by it becomes tempting to tell them you can do something that may be beyond your capabilities. It’s one thing to be able to program a customer’s Web site to their specifications. It’s another to have to rely on someone that you farm that work out to. What if that vendor is busy or on vacation or just can’t do it? You’re stuck not being able to deliver on a promise.
Remember the things that you do well and do them better than anyone else. If you get enough requests to do something that’s outside your abilities, then you need to make the investment to acquire that skill or someone who has that skill.
You can control what you know and what you don’t know. You can also control your reputation. If you develop a reputation that promises more than it can deliver, you’re going to find yourself with no more customers to disappoint.
