Get to ‘Yes’ When Prospects Say ‘No’

In favorable economic times, companies and consumers spend money as if there is an unlimited supply and almost anyone in the sales profession can sell enough to earn a decent living.  Engineers, technicians, professionals and teachers (vocations from which people have difficulty becoming effective salespeople) somehow earn their fare share during the good times.  Simply stated, there is enough to go around for everyone.

When the economy isn’t running on all cylinders, 74% of the sales population find it more difficult to get people to buy.  People become more wary about spending money and may not be so anxious to buy today. Competitors, feeling pressure, lower prices to entice conservative buyers who have begun to use the phrase so often it now sounds like a mantra:  “We’re gonna wait.”

So how do salespeople, frustrated with prospects unwilling to spend money, not only cope, but build a strong, successful strategy?  I’ll share some areas that you can explore and then improve upon to become more effective in these uncertain economic times.

At the heart of it all is, well, your heart.  In these health-conscious, heart-healthy times you not only need to have a strong heart; you must be strong-hearted as well.  This is what I call Desire.  Others call it passion.  Whatever you call it, you must want this success more than anything else. When you don’t want it badly enough, obstacles will get in the way.  If you believe you are already strong-hearted, here’s a quick test to determine whether you are in-tune with yourself or in need of a tune-up.  And be honest. 

What did you do the last time a prospect objected due to lack of available money? 

a. Back off

b. Understand your prospect’s predicament

c. Arrange to follow-up when money is more plentiful

d. Avoid rocking the boat

e. Attempt to handle the objection

f.  Start asking questions

g. Explain the importance of moving forward

h. Test the waters for a reaction to a lower price

i.  Offer a lower price

j.  Offer better terms

k. Get permission to continue talking about how you could help despite the money problem

l.  Give up

Of the 12 possible choices above, some demonstrate strong Desire while others demonstrate a lack of it.  Can you tell which is which?  What could it mean if the action you chose didn’t reflect strong Desire?  Well, for one, it could mean that your Desire is not as strong as you thought, but there are other possibilities as well.

From among these 12 possible choices we can get some insight as to your mindset or, as I like to call it, Record Collection.  If you chose “b – Understand your prospect’s predicament,” it means that you too have bought into “lack of money” problem and no matter what anyone may say, you will understand the reasoning whenever a prospect cries on your shoulder or uses money as an excuse.  When you have empathy for a prospect’s reasons not to buy, you have very little persuasion power when it comes to getting them to buy from you. 

If you chose “d – Avoid rocking the boat,” it indicates a need for approval, a hidden weakness whose interference in selling situations goes way beyond the economy.  You’ll have difficulty confronting any and all issues when this weakness is among those that you have. 

If you chose “i – Offer a lower price,” it could mean that you too could be persuaded by a lower price and when you have this mindset, it will affect your ability to sell at profitable margins.  You’ll not only offer lower prices to lure economy-weary prospects, but that will be your solution against lower-priced competitors as well.

Your early experiences can play a big part in this drama too.  If once upon a time, you offered a lower price and your prospect bought from you as a result, your brain, running on auto-learn, recorded that scenario. It tells you to offer that strategy each time you find yourself in a similar situation.  That is why, even though accepting a “think it over” is a bad strategy, salespeople succumb to it because it worked once earlier in their career.  Of course, it just might be that old need for approval getting in the way and the salesperson finds it much too uncomfortable to confront the put-off.

Then there is the most likely offender and weakness of all – discomfort talking about money.  All by itself, this weakness will prevent you from discussing the money issue any further when prospects share their budgetary problems.  If you believe that it is impolite to talk with someone else about their money or lack thereof, all the Desire in the world won’t help you talk about it – after all, you don’t want to be perceived as rude.

Now that you understand a few of the reasons why salespeople may struggle with the excuses their prospects offer, most of them sounding something like, “times are tough,” what can you do to change your fortune? 

First, if you don’t have strong Desire, there is not much you can do.  It will take all the Desire you can muster to overcome the non-supportive records, beliefs or mindsets that get in your way.  In order to overcome those non-supportive records you begin to reprogram yourself for success.  Salesmind, a CD that helps salespeople overcome these weaknesses, is the logical choice.

Need for approval is pretty darn hard to beat too.  It can take months to accomplish so, for starters, try needing prospects to respect you rather than needing them to like you.  As for those old experiences, just forget them.  They fall into the category of excess baggage and you don’t need them as memories. 

That leaves strategy.  What is the single technique that you can use to change people’s thoughts, actions and behaviors?

Unfortunately, until you’ve dealt with matters of the heart, mindsets, weaknesses and experiences, techniques won’t work because they won’t be coming from conviction.  Instead, they will merely be a new collection of words and phrases you can try, but with your old beliefs intact, the new words will not have new meaning.  If you’ve begun the process of repairing what ails you, the technique is actually simple.  The reality is that you might not even require a technique if you’ve developed a sound mind. 

With a sound mind, people will see how passionate, dedicated, convicted and sincere you are about helping them and they won’t need the economy as an excuse for saying ‘no.’  That’s right.  Money is probably not even the real reason they are saying “no.” However, you won’t know that until you get there!

Here’s the technique:  In response to your prospect’s objection or put-off, try the following: “I’ve heard that the economy has been a problem for some people, although I haven’t really seen it myself.  If money wasn’t such an issue for you, what would you be telling me right now?”

Now you’ll learn whether the prospect would buy if not for this “excuse.”  If they respond with, “We’d be doing business” or something along those lines, ask, “Why is that?”  Now you will hear the prospect’s true reasons for buying from you.  If the reasons are good enough, you can respond with, “And you’re willing to pass up a solution that will really help your business – because of money?  It doesn’t make any sense.”  That should get you going down the right path.

What happens if, instead of telling you they would buy, you learn that they would “really have to think about it?”  Pay attention.  You probably never sold them in the first place and the money excuse was a smoke screen.  What are your instructions?  Start over!  Say something like, “So, you’re not even convinced that this will help you!”  They’ll say something along the lines of “right” and you can go from there by asking questions like, “What are you concerned about?”

So in summary, it’s probably not money after all, but you won’t be able to learn that until you have the strength to ask the right questions. 

Good Luck and Good Selling.