Is Assertiveness important in running a business?

Listening carefully to your clients needs and wants is essential for your business success. You have to understand your client’s problems, and by solving them you bring the needed value.

Having said that, there’s a point where you need to be assertive and tell your clients what’s the best way to solve their problem, providing the best solutions available to you.

Just as an example, let’s assume you go to your doctor while suffering a pain in your chest.

After explaining to him or her how you’re feeling and after doing all of the necessary examinations and checking, the doctor will probably come up with an analysis of the situation and will come up with a solution or two.

Let’s assume that (God forbid) your doctor tells you that the analysis is showing a problem with a clogged arteries and that you need an operation immediately in order to save your life.

Now, are you going to tell your doctor how to operate you?

Are you going to tell your doctors what medical instruments and medications he/she should prescribe you?

Unless you’re a cardio-vascular physician yourself, you probably let your doctor do what needs to be done without questioning his or her professionalism, expertise, knowledge and experience and let them do their job to save your life.

Same goes with any other type of business, whether it’s an attorney, an accountant, an engineer or a plumber, you must trust them at some point to handle the problem and provide you the best possible solutions to your problems.

As business owners we run into all kinds of situations with our clients. Some are more trusting then others. Some are more suspicious than others. Some are more understanding than others, and some are more opinionated than others. Apparently we have to deal with all of them, but we have the choice who to work with and who to not.

My advice to you is that in case your clients are not listening to you and argue with your examination, your analysis or proposed solutions, then you should let them go and explain to them that the only way you’re willing to work with them is if they take your advise and embrace your solutions.