"No" doesn't mean never..."

...and "yes" doesn't mean forever.   Truer words were never spoken when it comes to sales. In this fast changing world of corporate priorities and "free agent" workforce, the company or person who said "no" to you last year should be the first prospect on your list this year!

This can also work in your favor when you think you're about to lose a sale.  Let's say you get the sinking feeling you are losing the sale and the prospect is about to tell you "no". Rather than pushing harder or using tired old sales tactics such as lowering your price, do something politicians have practiced for decades; slow down the process.  Don't go for the win, go for the stall.  Introduce a new condition or even a new competitor.  Whatever you need to do to slow down the process, do it!

Why?  Because by slowing down the process you are allowing time to become your friend instead of your enemy.  In fact, you are making time the enemy of your opponent.  By introducing something new, you have given the leading candidate something else to deal with.  If they are like most salespeople, they will try harder to close the deal.  However, the harder they close, the more attention it draws to the reason(s) you provided for the prospect to take more deliberate approach.

While all this is going on, the sales process also may cross into a new quarter and we all know what can happen when the decision moves into a new quarter; anything can happen.  New people may come into the equation; priorities may change, budgets may be altered, your primary contract may get promoted or even leave.  In other words, when a sale moves into a new quarter, everything can be placed back on the table and you may be able to start over and gain the upper hand.   At worst, your competitor has to go back to their boss and explain why a deal they most likely committed is now pushed to the next quarter.  For all you know, it could have been a career defining quarter for your competing salesperson and they may not be in the picture in the new quarter.  Oh my, now you're competing against a brand new players and your odds of winning just went way up.

Comments

[Mike Horn]

Great insight, for those career sales people this is great "refresher" information. I think too often when we get a "no" we tend to go around that person until we can find someone to listen to our value prop without circling back to the original contact. More importantly, just because we get a "yes" i.e win business does not mean that we have that business forever. Selling is a never ending process. Keep it coming.