How To Respond When Your Prospect Says The 6 Most Dreaded Rejection Words
Rejection . We in marketing and sales face it everyday . Secretly , for many of us , rejection actually comes as a relief . Once the prospect says no , we ’ re freed from the discomfort of trying to convince someone to buy . We can take a deep breath , shuffle papers on our desk , look busy , scroll through our list of prospects , disqualify each one of them in our minds and otherwise ignore the reality that we are paid not just to show up but actually to sell .
Often , prospects want to let us down gently . They won ’ t outright say no , if they have a shred of empathy . They ’ ve probably sold for a living , too . So they ’ ll come up with all kinds of excuses about why they can ’ t or won ’ t buy . Often , it ’ s just as hard for them to say “ No ” as it is for us to hear it . The prospect ’ s number one way to get out of a sales call without having to hear another word from you :
“ I ’ ll have to think it over .” Well , what exactly do you have to think over , Mr . or Ms . Prospect ? If you knew the product or service was right for you , you ’ d buy it . If you knew it were wrong , you ’ d reject it . So what ’ s left to think about ? And yet , surprisingly , salespeople actually welcome those six dirty words , because they offer a diplomatic way to hang up the phone . That ’ s because the dirtiest secret of all in sales is that most salespeople hate selling . Oh , we like closing deals , getting commissions , being top of the board , making President ’ s Club or whatever , and winning the all-expenses paid trip to Jamaica . No worries , mon .
It ’ s the selling we secretly despise . So when we get a rejection , especially a diplomatic one like “ I ’ ll have to think it over ,” it ’ s actually fine .
It means we can stop selling and start … wasting time . Here ’ s the good news : “ I ’ ll have to think it over ” doesn ’ t necessarily mean no . It often means , “ I don ’ t have enough information , and I ’ m afraid to ask you another question because I don ’ t know if you ’ ll lie to me , pressure me , or assume I want to buy .”
So the move we need to make is to welcome those six words … not because they give us an easy out but because they actually create a real path to making a sale .
How , you ask ? It all depends on how you look at sales . If you think of it as getting over on the other guy , or using a bunch of old school clauses , or a numbers game , or any of the traditional boiler room approaches , things never go well for long . But if you think of sales as an opportunity to serve people by getting them what they need and desire , and above all , a search for the truth , everything changes . When I hear , “ I have to think it over ,” here ’ s what I do . I pause , and I speak softly . “ You know ,” I begin , “ when people say , ‘ I have to think it over ,’ there are two possible things happening . “ One is that they really don ’ t want what I ’ m offering and they ’ re just trying to let me down gently . “ If that ’ s the case , it ’ s okay . I ’ m a big boy and I can take a no .
“ The other possibility is that there ’ s a question that hasn ’ t been asked or a concern that hasn ’ t been voiced . “ Is that the case here ? Is there something I haven ’ t answered properly or thoroughly for you ?” The change in tone is essential . It indicates to the prospect that there ’ s been a shift in the nature of the call .
It ’ s no longer about me selling . It ’ s about you getting your needs met and your current need is to ask a question you haven ’ t felt comfortable asking . Some people will tell you , “ I ’ m really not interested .” That ’ s great . You ’ ve got clarity .
Strictly Marketing Magazine July / August 2016 3