have never known this had I not asked.” —Paul F., Communication
Systems Consultant
While every good sales professional knows why a prospect would say yes
to their offerings, it may be of equal or greater importance to know why
they are saying no. If you ask, enough people will be straightforward that
you can gain valuable insight into their decision-making logic. A high per-
centage of the answers you hear will fall into the following categories.
- Price
•Satisfied with current product - Features—not the right fit
- Not ready to change
- Lack of confidence in product or company
- Bad experience with company or similar company
After you have performed careful rejection analysis, you will intuitively
alter your presentation to answer these objections and, most important, do
a better job of uncovering areas of dissatisfaction first. People buy to solve
problems, and selling is difficult without knowing what the problems are.
If your rate of nos is higher than it should be, it could be attributable to the
lack of discovery of the prospects’ world and challenges they face.
TOO MUCH MONEY
If your nos are based primarily on price, then you may need to work on
how well you demonstrate value. Price is an issue most often when suffi-
cient value is not perceived. Economic logic will always be the source of the
majority of nos, simply because most people tend to value price (to you it’s
the price, to them it is the cost) over benefit. If you are certain that the
product you offer is worth the price premium, then you must find ways to
communicate that value. The following creative story comes to mind.
J. J. looked at his watch and asked his prospect what time he
had. The prospect told him, “Quarter past ten.”
J. J. said, “That’s the same time I have, but I can’t help but no-
tice the fine watch you’re wearing. Is that a Rolex?”
“Yes it is,” the prospect replied.
“I would guess that my watch probably cost less than one-tenth
of what your watch cost, yet it just gave the exact time that your
Risking Rejection / Getting Past No 139