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CLOSING THE SALE: Ways to handle 'NO!'

• An inventor once had his device turned down by 44 major companies, while a consulting firm said that there was a market for only about 1000 machines. Finally a company bought his patent and changed their name to Xerox.

• Edison had 200 failures with the light bulb - each one helped him to perfect it.

Accept That You Will Get No’s

‘No’ is part of the process. The difference between success and failure in the long term is how we react to the no’s. Some people are rejected by the ‘no’ and lose morale.

I recently heard of a company who paid their salespeople for the amount of No’s that they had - not just the amount of successes. This is not to encourage failure, but to make it acceptable and normal. This company knew that if their salespeople had enough No’s that they would also have enough yes replies.

Calculate how many No’s you need to get a yes. Then simply check them off as you get them - you are now getting closer to your target.

Don't Take It Personally

Smile and laugh. It’s nothing personal, so don't take ‘no’ too seriously.

They Are Rejecting Your Offering Not You

The person you are calling may have come out of a bad meeting. They may have just been heavily reprimanded by the MD, and then you call. Do you think they are going to be receptive to your call? Even if they do need what you have to offer, they may well say no. Alternatively they may have sickness in the family, and their mind is not on their job. If you call them again in one week, you may have a completely different result.

Or it is equally possible that we simply did not present effectively, which brings us to point 4

Learn From Them

We can train ourselves to view the No’s as a valuable learning experience. What can you learn? Can you correct anything?

Ask yourself questions like:

• Why wasn't the objective completed?
• Could you have done anything differently?
• Were you ready for the objections?
• Was your opening statement stimulating and interesting?
• Did I ask for the business several times?

The Last Call Has No Bearing On The Next One

Your biggest sale ever could be the next call - be prepared for it!

Turn No’s Into Sales With Persistence

We have said that the No’s are not failures. When using the telephone we will experience more No’s than yes. The same is equally true of field sales presentations. We need to be prepared for them. We do this by uncovering objections, through asking questions. ‘No’ is part of the process. The difference between success and failure in the long term is how we react to the No’s.

One salesman selling insurance called Chelsea Football Club eighteen times in two years. Eventually they agreed to meet him, and he got a substantial piece of business from them. His attitude was "they are saying ‘no’ today, not forever". So we turn No’s into sales by persistence and follow up, we build a relationship through regular and systematic contact. This will probably be through a combination of mediums - phone, fax and mail.

Turn No’s into Sales By Getting Referrals

If your normal conversion ratio is four sales visits to each new client then for every 100 visits you complete in a year 75 prospects are saying no. Ask each prospect who has actually given the business to another supplier, for three referrals. You might say, ‘Tell me David why did you give the business to xyz.’ They answer, ‘Because of abc’. You respond, ‘ I understand: if I were in your position I would have been tempted to consider that myself – however David you know what we can provide, can you think of three other companies who might be in a position to use our service?’

If just half your lost prospects gave just 2 referrals you still have 75 referrals that otherwise would not exist!

THE TOTAL ‘NO’ FACTOR

Let’s assume that broadly you will secure 5 orders per month. At an average of 6 appt. to an order, that’s 30 times a customer has said no in a four-week period. That is 360 times a year on appointments alone plus all the telephone work required to make appointments in the first place. It could be anything from 500 to 1000 No’s in the average year for each of you.

There are only two possible ways to increase the number of sales. What are they?

• Increase the total number of appointments
• Improve the actual closing ratio

Exercise

1. If your average order value is £3000 your conversion is 6:1 and you want to get two more orders per month, how many more visits per month do you need to achieve that end? What is the total new income and how many days visiting does that entail?

(Answer is 12 and the extra income is £6000 and it requires 3-4 days)

You improve your closing ratio to 5:1 (answer is £3000).

You improve your closing ratio to 4:1 (Answer is £7500)

That is an extra £126,000 per leads salesperson - an extra £1.6 million for the company and a welcome headache for your FD on bonus and commission!!

Is it possible to make changes of that kind?

Yes it is. With one client we increased the sales at a seminar from 25% of delegates to over 50% - something like 1:1.5 closing ratio. That means we improved by at least doubling our result.

THE ANXIETY OF SAYING NO

There is sales resistance out there. There are plenty of prospects that feel apprehensive, troubled and uneasy about those of us who sell. As we have seen already, as salespeople we are paid and motivated to influence others to make decisions, and to some prospects making any decision is an uncomfortable process.

But in spite of this well documented fact there is still one other anxiety that constantly hangs over the heads of prospects when they encounter a salesperson they like. People don’t like saying no. Think about family life: a parent will find the moment more stressful with their child when they say no instead of yes..

Because many people find it hard to say no, it may well be harder to get our foot in the door but - once we do this it works in our favour… This is especially true when there is a need for your product and you excel in presenting it. Couple this with sincerity and conviction and more of those No’s will become a yes.

Seeing this is one small percentage increase to our confidence, and it can help in the process of building up a positive picture.