WHAT TO DO WHEN YOUR PROSPECT SAYS NO
by Dr. Jeffrey Lant
Face it. It happens to everyone. You've finished your sparkling sales
presentation and now you're ready to write the order. To your
consternation and even irritation your prospect says, "No. I'm not
buying what you're selling."
Now what?
How you handle this sure-to-happen-to-you situation will determine
whether you'll become a sales specialist, making money with what you'r
selling, or whether you'll never be anything other than an order taker
that lowly creature who merely fills out paperwork when people want to
buy.
Before You Leave
. Proceeding As If You Were Going To Make The Sale
When your prospect says "No!", you're going to be hurt,
disappointed,even angry. That's only natural. Unfortunately,
it's also fatal. When the prospect says "No!", you need all
your wits about you.
If you are sure this prospect has the problem your product
or service can solve, you need to ignore the negative you've
just heard. You need to act confident the sale will still be
made. Furthermore, you cannot terminate this interview
before you accomplish two things: try at least once more to
sell your product or service and (if this fails) find out
why the prospect has declined to buy.
. Giving It The Good Ol' College Try
The first thing you need to do is try again. This is hard.
But necessary. You've already put a lot of your time and
effort into arranging this meeting. Days, perhaps weeks, of
marketing time have gone into getting you to where you are
now. It would be terrible to leave without trying just once
more.
After the prospect declines to buy, pause. Take a minute to
get a good hold of yourself. Then look the prospect directly
in the face and proceed slowly. "Mr. Prospect," you say, "I
will certainly respect your decision. But before I leave I'd
like to make sure I understand why you have made it so that
I can serve you better in the future."
By using this response, you indicate to the prospect (who
may well be defensive about the decision he's just made) you
respect what he's said. Argument is futile here. Good sales
techniques are not. While you are letting him know you
intend for there to be a future between you, you very much
say it so that you can have the opportunity to close right
now.
"Before I leave I'd like to ask you a couple of questions."
Now find out whether you understand the prospect's problem.
State your understanding of it. Ask the prospect to confirm
your understanding. If you haven't understood the prospect's
problem, it's unlikely he'll want to buy what you're
selling.
Once the prospect has confirmed your understanding of his
problem, again present the benefits of what you are selling.
Do not ask for permission to proceed. Instead, put the
prospect in the position of having to stop you. Since you
are doing all this for his benefit, why should be want to?
Now show how the various features of what you are offering
provide the prospect with what he wants, when he wants it.
After you have presented this information, get the
prospect's confirmation that this is what he wants done.
Now ask the prospect whether there is something about your
product or service still bothering him? It is very important
that you isolate his objection, so you can answer it.
"Yes," the prospect may say, "as I've already told you, I
think your product is fine. It's just too expensive for me."
Now take the offensive. Ask the prospect why he feels what
you are selling is too expensive. Often prospects don't know
why. They just It is your responsibility to show him he's
getting good value for his money and that what you are
selling provides him the benefits he wants.
. Try Closing Again
As the prospect runs out of objections, close again. "Mr.
Prospect. You told me you wanted faster delivery. I can
provide it. You told me you wanted a competitive price. I
can provide that, too. You told me you wanted a service
representative to take care of your account. That's what I
do. I think it makes good sense for us to do business
together. I hope you agree. As Cole Porter said, 'Let's do
it!' "
. If The Prospect Still Declines To Buy
Even using this affirmative, goal-oriented, client-centered
technique, there will still be prospects who decline to buy.
In such a case, before leaving the prospect's office, do
this:
- Shake the prospect's hand and thank him for the time he
has given you.
- Look the prospect directly in the eye and say, "I know my
product (or service) will help you, Mr. Prospect, and that
we'll do business in the future. I look forward to speaking
with you again about how I can help your business."
There is nothing to be gained by leaving the prospect's
office upset or irritated and a lot to gain by acting
confident that what you are selling will help and that there
will be a future relationship. The prospect, being human,
may well wonder what makes you so
upbeat,enthusiastic,confident. Remembering his Shakespeare
("To err,"he recalls, "is human.") he may well wonder
whether he hasn't let just what he needs walk out the
door.That, of course, is how you want him to feel.
On The Way Out The Door
Before leaving the meeting, thank the secretary for helping
you. In fact, she may have done precious little, blocking
your calls for weeks. But selective memory is very helpful
in sales success. Instead of turning your back on this human
roadblock,say "Thanks, Mary, for all your help."
Now let her know you'll be coming back and when. "I'll be
contacting Mr. Prospect again in about six weeks to follow
up today's meeting. Talk to you again then." For all Mary
knows, you and the prospect have arranged this time. Because
you've already gotten in the door, she'll be more careful
about how she treats you in the future and your calls
shouldn't be obstructed. As I've always said, presumption is
the root of success.
After The Meeting
All of us in sales need to review our techniques. We need to
do it when we succeed and we especially need to do it when
we don't. Of course, being human, we don't do this nearly
enough, and so we go on making the same mistakes over and
over again.
In reviewing a sales meeting that has so far not produced
results, run through the following checklist. Did you:
- ask the prospect to define his problem for you? Of course,
before you get to the meeting you should have some idea of
what the prospect wants to accomplish. But it is your
obligation to get the prospect to define his problem as
clearly as possible. You shouldn't make your presentation
until you've gathered sufficient information about what the
prospect wants to do to ensure you are properly positioning
what you are selling. Did you?
- ascertain precisely what benefits about what you are
offering most interest the prospect? People buy the same
thing for many different reasons. Can you honestly say you
understood the reasons why the prospect would buy? Or did
you impose your reasons on him?
- check throughout the course of the meeting to make sure
the prospect understood what you were saying? The minute you
cease to be client-centered is the minute prospects lose
interest. Did you make a presentation (a word I loathe),or
did you focus on your prospect?
- isolate each of the prospect's objections and answer it?
If you left any of the prospect's objections standing, you
gave him a perfect reason for not buying what you're
selling.
- give the prospect a sense of your own enthusiasm about
what you're selling and your own commitment to the company
selling it, or did you act like this was your tenth sales
call of the day and hence utterly beyond redeeeming interest
of any kind? The salesperson's lack of interest in what he's
selling necessarily taints the prospect's interest in it.
Don't just ask yourself these questions verbally. Keep a log
with them and write down your answers. Over the course of
even a few days, you'll discover a pattern about your
approaches and your prospects' responses. As a result you
may find that you -- not your prospect -- are the problem.
Now What?
Always assuming the prospect has the problem your product or
service can solve (the key factor), do this:
- Resolve to build a relationship with this prospect.
Resolve, that is, to do what is necessary for him to see you
as the helpful problem-solver you are. You must have a
vision at this point, a vision of helping the prospect do
what he wants to do even when he doesn't accept the fact he
needs your help. This necessary vision logically preceeds
the relationship, and the relationship cannot take place
without it.
- Send the prospect a note thanking him for his time, saying
that you want to build a relationship, and telling him
you'll be back in touch. It is a wise idea to say when
you'll be back in touch. That will, of course, depend on
what you're selling, but by all means let the prospect know.
Then write down the date -- and make sure you are back in
touch at that exact time. Prospects judge our products and
services by our sales habits. If you are slipshod about
doing what you said you were going to do, they are right to
reckon our products and services are the same way. Make sure
at least some of your sales literature is enclosed with this
note. People often buy for no better reason than that they
know the product or service. Use every opportunity to build
familiarity.
- As comparable organizations to the prospect's use your
product or service, drop the prospect additional notes
letting him know, in the nicest possible way, that others
are making headway towards solving comparable problems.
Always let him know that you want to do the same with him.
Envy, you know, is a terrific motivator.
Call The Prospect Again
Call the prospect when you said you were going to. In
calling him do the following:
- Let him know that you are doing what you said you were
going to. "When we last talked, Mr. Prospect, I said I'd
call you April 20th. Here it is April 20th and I'm ready to
help you."
- Never launch into a sales presentation. Instead, confirm
that the prospect still has the problem he had when last you
talked. "When we last talked, you said you wanted to raise
more money from corporations for your meals-on-wheels
program. Is this still what you want to do?"
- If it is, then you are ready to talk about how your
product or service can help him achieve his objective.
If,however, he's changed his objective, you'll have to
change your approach by gathering additional information.
"No,"the prospect may say, "we're now interested in raising
additional dollars from our community for our endowment
fund."
Before you can adequately respond to this, you may well need
additional information. But before asking for it, let the
prospect know you can help him achieve this objective (if,
indeed, you can!): "My company can help you do this, Mr.
Prospect. But I'd like to know more about what you need to
do and when you need to do it. Could you please tell me...?"
B. It is perfectly acceptable in this situation to ask for
additional time to consider your proposal to the prospect
after you've gathered the new information. Don't rush. If
you need time, take it! It is better the prospect get the
exact proposal he needs from you, than that you prematurely
rush things.
Persisting
How long do you continue to approach this prospect in this
systematic, client-centered fashion? The answer my friend is
simple: so long as he has the problem your product or
service can solve. Succeeding in sales is a combination of
plodding persistence plus rigorously client-centered
behavior. These two factors, not high pressure tactics and
the boorishness associated with so many in the profession,
ensure success. Take my word for it!
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________________________________________________
Marketing consultant Dr. Jeffrey Lant is well-known as the
author of such books as THE UNABASHED SELF-PROMOTER'S GUIDE:
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NEEDS TO KNOW ABOUT GETTING AHEAD BY EXPLOITING THE MEDIA;
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THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO SUCCEEDING IN THE ADVICE BUSINESS.
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