So should she go for the no? “Jane, this really does look like something interesting.  I’m going to go ahead and look this over and I’ll think about it and I’ll let you know.  Why don’t you give me a call next week”.  So Jane calls the next week.  “Hi Bob, this is Jane.  I wanted to check on you to see if you had any questions on the proposal I gave you.  I know you said you wanted to think it over. I wanted to see if you’ve made a decision or had additional questions”.

The next week, Jane calls Hey Bob, Jane again, just checking to see if you had made any decisions.  The next week again, Hi Bob, it’s Jane,  I know you’ve been really busy, but wanted to see if you had come to any kind of conclusion.  And this goes on and on until somebody gives up, usually Jane. 

What’s the biggest challenge we have in sales? Well so many of us will say getting a “no”.  We always want to get a yes in sales.  Actually, getting a no is not at all our biggest challenge at all.  The number one problem we have in sales is “I want to think it over”.  The reason that’s a big problem is because it’s a gray area.  It doesn’t have any definition.  Think it over usually is a no disguised as a maybe, and a maybe is nothing more than a probable no as well. 

The reason we do that is because we believe that in sales, persistence is important, and follow-up is part of what we do in selling.  If you just keep following up eventually you’ll break them down.  No. I don’t call this follow-up.  I call this stalking.  True selling is two people coming to a conclusion, — a conclusion that it should move to the next step, that will eventually turn into a sale.  If two people aren’t agreeing on what the next step looks like or that there should be one, then there won’t be one.  Because most of the time, when somebody says I want to think it over, what they’re really saying is you’re a nice person, I don’t want to tell you no, but I have no intention of doing anything. 

This is a very frustrating thing that sales people go through. So what do we do?  Well one of the things we have to do is make sure that when you’re selling, that you have a sales process that works for you.  A sales process is having an actual agenda of things that you know you need to go through.  you need to cross off your list before you move to the next step and both you and the prospect have to agree on each of these steps along the way. 

One of the most important things to have in your sales process is giving the option of a no. Yep, put it out there, let them know it is an option and you’re OK with it. Why?

Go for the No!

• You won’t be wasting time with ‘tire kickers’.
• Your prospect will know upfront you aren’t desperate.
• If you get a think it over, you can discuss your earlier agreement
• You will be differentiation yourself from your competitors and creating a true consultation as opposed to ‘selling them’.

Stop selling the old way. Remember the definition of insanity…So go for the no in sales.