Fast No vs Slow Maybe

“So you’re telling me there’s a chance!”

–     Jim Carrey’s character, Lloyd Christmas, in the movie “Dumb and Dumber”

Sales pros hate the word “no.”  Everything we’re taught — or at least everything we were taught back in the day — was about how to combat that word.  “I don’t believe in accepting “no,” a candidate recently told me.  No, “no” has historically been unwelcome in Salesville.

Whoddathunk it could be our best friend?

Why This Affection For A Negative Outcome?

A quick fact check reveals the following:

There are still only 24 hours in a day.  By and large, in the white-collar world, there are only five selling days in most weeks.  In any market, for any product of consequence, there is a finite number of people who are in the market, have any intention of buying or that ultimately will buy, no matter how skilled, persistent or awesome we are.

Let’s don’t waste any more time on the rest of the market than we absolutely have to.

The “fast no,” is a sales pro’s best friend, because it frees up time for those that will say “yes!”  Traditional sales training focuses on what I call the “Dumb or Dumber” strategy.  If you’re hoping against hope that there is still a chance, there probably isn’t.  This concept is along the same line as yesterday’s post.  Closing, cajoling, pushing — they’re not part of the game we play these days.  (By the way, if you’re hoping against hope there’s still a chance, ask!  But ask wanting and expecting an honest answer, and prepared to hear it.  Don’t pull a Lloyd!)

Surely You’re Not Suggesting We Should Only Call on People Pre-Disposed to Buy From Us?

That’s not the point.  Now, is sales still an “argument” at its core?  Yes.  If the buyers already believed what we want them to believe, we’d be obsolete.  Someone could just process the inbound calls and Willy Loman us right out of business.  Of course, the buyers aren’t all “ready to pull the trigger!”  We have to convince them that we have a solution to their problem, and the time to do that is upfront.  By asking questions.

Questions like:

“Have you been able to quantify how much ________ is costing you?”  “When __________ happens, what does that look / feel like inside your operation?  For your customers?”  “What would it be worth for you to have this challenge behind you?  How much more revenue would you drive, how much lower would your costs be, how much less time would you have to spend convincing your regulators, board of directors or owners that they shouldn’t be concerned at all about __________?”  “Does __________ drive overtime up?  Has it ever cost you a valuable employee?  Has it had any impact on recruiting talent?  Has it affected how referenceable your customers are?”

So, Just Bail at The First Sign of Rejection?

Nope.  Instead, step away when it becomes clear there’s no pain of remaining the same for the prospect.  If there’s no pain, there’s little chance of a sale.  If there’s no payback, in terms of hard dollars or peace of mind, there’s little chance of a sale.  If there’s no pain in remaining the same, why would the prospect change?  And if there’s little chance, why would we spend all our time being Lloyd Christmas when we could be setting up a better Christmas for the people on our list?

I’m not suggesting we give up.  I’m suggesting we play “less often, but more better.”  It improves our chances of making a difference.