We take the word ‘no’ to be rejection, and in so many cases it is not. The understanding of this word will really help so many of us to overcome that natural fear of selling.
When a customer says ‘no’, it is only ever a ‘no, not today’. We live in such a dramatically changing lifestyle that circumstances and situations change very rapidly.
Lets imagine a world where nobody could say no, the word simply did not exist. What would you be doing more of? How many more calls would you be making? How many more people would you approach? I illustrate that because within this word – ‘no’, there is a massive business opportunity.
I once tried to sell to a company for two whole years, every couple of months or so; we would go back and try to sell. Finally after two years of trying, they gave us a small order, then a slightly larger one and lastly, the biggest order we had ever received.
‘No, not today’ is an expression that I want you to embrace completely in your professional sales career. Understand what a ‘no’ means – it is not a straight ‘no’, it is a ‘not right now’ or ‘no, not today’. I’m not saying you have to put pressure on your customers or be pushy. I’m not saying you have to continually ask and make it difficult for the relationship to grow. But understanding what a ‘no’ is will make you an absolute fortune.
Let’s use telesales as an example. Within a telesales team, you get a huge amount of rejections and as a result you see the core rate of phone calls made drop over time. The sales staff would take longer lunch breaks or more frequent toilet breaks – any excuse to not pick up the phone. When I worked in a telesales environment, every so often I would have some fun with the team. I’d ask them to see how many ‘no’s’ they could get in that day, as many as possible. I’d state that the person to get the most will win two bottles of wine, the second – one bottle and the third, a box of chocolates. You would instantly see the core rate rocket and as it did, so did the ‘yes’s’. Of course, people would still be saying ‘no’ but the example I’m pointing out is – if you want more ‘yes’s’, you have to get some ‘no, not today’s’.
As you begin to understand the opportunity of a ‘no’, it becomes so exciting. My experience in sales, over many years, has shown me and demonstrated over and over again, the importance of getting a ‘no’.
I was never despondent of a ‘no, not today’, we would simply add them to the list and would re-contact that prospective customer, maybe within 3 months, maybe within 6 months but we would stay in contact.
In every business I have been involved with, our biggest source of revenue comes from our existing client base. The second biggest – the list of ‘no, not today’s’ and the third comes from a completely new list of people who we have never been in contact with before.
So…in summary…don’t undervalue the ‘no, not today’s’. Keep a list and stay in contact regularly. In the process of understanding the word ‘no’ – it completely removes this ridiculous fear of selling and helps us to be so much more professional.
You cannot win them all. It is highly unlikely that we will ever produce a selling technique that will help the seller to close every sale.
If I wanted to compete with your business – I would simply ask for your ‘no, not today’ list. I will guarantee I will make an extremely successful business and take market share from that list. Value your ‘no, not today’ list, it is priceless.
Good luck & great success!
Richard Denny is one of the world’s most inspirational business speakers and business growth specialists. He is one of the foremost authorities on sales, management training and personal development. Richard is an international best seller and has written 5 hugely successful books which have sold two million copies worldwide and been translated into over 28 languages. He has been dubbed the Millionaire Maker by the Daily mail and Birmingham Post.
