You know we preach policies. 👏 Protect your boundaries. 👏 Charge your worth. 👏 Guard your peace. But you may be surprised to know we also say "bend the rules." You see - the policies are the "big bad monsters" we use as our fall guy.
💪🏼 The policies are in place to protect us - but that doesn't mean they're written in stone (or rock-hard, stale dough). You see - by bending certain policies, we can snag the bag and come out lookin' like our client's hero (🦸 wearing an apron as a cape in this scenario).
🚩 The key to effective rule-bending is knowing when there's a win for the baker and the client. A win-lose rule bend is a loss for someone, so might as well just stick with the policies. Let's look at some examples.
🗒️ Rule Bender Example 1: It's a Pick-Up Date.
Let's say you have a set pick-up date on Saturdays, but the client wants to move it to Friday. What do you do? 🦨 Tell them "ain't no way, honey bun - rules are rules and your hiney better be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed come Saturday at 8AM!"? I mean - you could. It's in your policies. BUT - could you snag a sale by bending just a little? ⤴️ For example, a rule bender would say this:
🗒️ Rule Bender Example 2: It's Delivery.
Corrie doesn't offer delivery - ⤴️ that is until she bends the rules a bit. When she got an order from a large department store in our local city center, 🧈 you butter believe she jumped in her car. Why? By bending the delivery rules, she snagged a HUGE sale - and another, and another - from the same store. So when a big account asks for front-door delivery, it may be a good time to do some old-fashioned rule-bending.
🗒️ Rule Bender Example 3: Class Credit.
Corrie and I have some pretty strict class cancelation policies - unless we bend them a bit. Here's the thing - 💳 Eventbrite doesn't tell you this, but if someone does a chargeback, they'll 100% refund them (and not ask you). 🏦 So - if I bend my "no refunds" policy and turn it into a future class credit, I may be able to snag an additional sale for the now-empty seat AND get that future class money from the credited sale. One of those "win-win" scenarios.
🗒️ Rule Bender Example 4: Copyright Copy Cat.
🚫 Corrie does not offer copyright cookies. But she bends the rules with likenesses. (Where that legal line in the sand is between you, your liability policy, and Disney lawyers and is a bit too deep to swim in in today's podcast but I digress). 💃 But the likeness of a copyrighted character can be just enough rule-bending to snag a sale.
Most rules aren't meant to be broken. But many rules are meant to be bent. Knowing which ones and how far to bend them comes with practice - and keep in mind, bending the rules may be makin' the sale, but it also leads to a bit more liability exposure. So weigh your options and make sure you have a fully funded oopsie budget to stave off bad reviews for bent rules.
⛔ "No" is only a complete sentence for a bad salesperson. Find the common double-green-flag ground for you and your clients to both win-win while you laugh all the way to the bank.