Consider what a first timer to a Sandler sales class might say. “You want me to do what! Go for no! Are you outta your mind? Why would I do that? I’m here to close more sales, not lose them.”
Goes against the grain, doesn’t it? Going for no sounds like a fast track to sales suicide.
That’s understandable. As salespeople, we’re bred to go for “yes,” that marvelous, one-syllable happy-making word. Getting to yes gives us a sense of achievement. Yes makes us feel like we’re getting somewhere.
But here’s the rub. Going for yes invariably sets up mental and emotional barriers with prospects. They’re ready for you to sell them. They have their resistance routines set up.
On the other hand, going for no turns a prospect’s routine upside down. He or she never expects a sales person to go for no. Going for no disarms them. Makes them comfortable. This allows you to consult with them, instead of selling to them.
When a potential client or customer, tells you no, then you can get right to the heart of the matter—finding out the criteria for deciding you may not qualify. You’re free to ask and respond with questions about a prospect’s not willing to buy from you and finding ways to resolve the reasons for no and move toward a sale.
In effect, going for, and getting, a no serves as a spring board for getting to yes.
And if you go for no as early as possible in a sales call, you can lose as early as humanly possible. Again, sounds counterintuitive, right? But going for no fast, cuts down on the time you need to spend with a prospect who’s truly not going to buy and to move on to with better sales pursuits.
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