WHAT TO DO WHEN YOUR PROSPECT SAYS NO

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!