Here are the 3 states for a potential customer
- Yes, I want your product/service
- Maybe
- No, I don’t want your product/service
Unfortunately, most sales people will rank these 3 states (in terms or desired outcome for them) as
- Yes
- Maybe
- No
When in my opinion, after a yes, the most desired outcome for any sales outfit should be
NO!
We don’t need your services right now
We don’t think you are right for the job
We already have something similar working for us
No, we can’t work with you for now
But we have been trained to not take no for an answer. Keep perusing.
Doesn’t work anymore
The best gift you can give yourself is to be so good that you get a yes or a no, right away.
“Maybe” is this false sense of hope.
Can I meet you in person to explain in more detail?
Can we give you a free trial instead to see if it changes your mind?
Can I explain the benefits once more
All in hope!
The hit rate of this approach is far far lesser than if you were to come back with a fresh new product/service for the same customer or pursue new customers.
Because sales organizations are so poor at accepting a no, customers are incentivized to keep lying and give this false sense of hope.
Imagine the total value of all hot, warm and cold leads in the sales funnels of the world today
And the waste of human effort that goes into pursuing it.
As a sales professional, learn how to take NO as a closure.
A sign to move on. To improve the product or sell the same product to someone else.
And as a customer, force yourself to say no as soon as you realize it.
Don’t linger
Reaching out to the same customer with the same product everyday and expecting a yes from a maybe, is insanity!