If you want business, you have to be willing to do what it takes to get it. The days of sitting back and waiting for your phone to ring are over (and have been over for a long time). Not only do you need to actively look for new opportunities, you need to know when and how to negotiate. Why let some new business walk out the door, when you could easily come to some sort of agreement. I think many businesses hide behind policy, and don’t empower their employees enough to negotiate with prospects (which is a whole other problem).

Policy is usually there for a good reason, but in today’s marketplace, business people need to be flexible enough to understand that one size doesn’t fit all anymore. Sometimes there are exceptions to rules, and at the end of the day you have to do what you can to keep business coming in. If you are a decision maker at your company, please look at your current policies and see if there is something there that could be hurting your business. Better yet, call up your salespeople (or whoever interacts with clients the most) and ask them what they think. You may find something that needs to be updated or changed.

Being aggressive doesn’t mean offering deep discounts or huge concessions. Obviously you need to know when to say no. However, think about your competition. If they are passive and you are active, who do you think is going to get the business? If they say no to a client, and you say yes, who do you think just made a new client? Look for opportunities like this in your market, and you may be pleasantly surprised.

The bottom line? In business, or any other kind of competition for that matter, effective aggression is one of your biggest allies. What do you guys think? Am I full of it?