Don’t make the decision for them

A dear friend of mine just enrolled a power-player company as a sponsor for her upcoming conference. That alone would be a win. 

The big win, however, is that she asked them in the first place. 

You see, she’d been ignoring the voice inside of her that told her to reach out to them, even as she reached out to other companies. She told herself that they weren’t going to say yes, so don’t waste the time asking. 

Have you done this before? Have you stopped yourself from reaching out to potential clients or not invited someone to join you for something simply because you thought they’d say no? 

Have you made the decision for them, before they even knew there was a decision to be made? 

Years ago I was in a networking group. We were really active and liked to host visitor events to help attract new potential members. One member had a list of people he wanted to invite, and for each person, a reason why he thought they wouldn’t want to attend. 

I remember this so many years later because it’s one of the stupidest things I’ve heard. He denied each one of those people the opportunity to visit a dynamic networking group that's committed to helping its members grow because he thought he was better at making their decision. They never even knew about this opportunity. 

Thank goodness my friend from the beginning of this story decided to reach out to the company she was avoiding. Not only does she have their support for an event that will give support to so many others, the sponsoring company will receive recognition, valuable connections and so much more. Everyone wins because she didn’t make their decision for them. 

The next time you’re hesitating to reach out to someone, ask yourself why you’re denying that person an opportunity. Let them make their own decision.