Hire an (imaginary) chairmanWhen you work for a boss and have some difficult news to impart - maybe a pricing issue with a customer or a negotiation with a supplier - you can always blame the boss. But when you are the boss, well it can all be a bit tricky.
On the one hand you want to play the good guy and be the warm friendly person, but you also need to address the issue, make the difficult decisions and say the hard stuff.
How do you do both?
Hire an (imaginary) chairman.
A friend of mine does this very elegantly. In a recent pricing negotiation, she explained to her customer how she had wanted to offer them a lower price but how, when she discussed it with her chairman (the imaginary one, of course), she realised that the business could really not afford to do such a deal. She emphasised that she had been very reluctant to agree with her chairman but had eventually come to realise that he was right and that this was the best deal she could do.
The client took it very well, saying that they completely understood the situation and thanking her for at least considering the lower price.
My friend continues to have a very good relationship with her client and - yeah - they also pay her a good price for her work.
Sometimes, when you are the boss of a little business, you just have to have a few tricks up your sleeve. I’m collating a few more so if you have any that you’d like to share, please do!
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