As a sales professional it strikes me as strange that most sales training sessions give little or no attention to teaching methods to deal with rejection. While I have written much about the emotional reaction that often follows rejection, I also feel it is important to develop a logical reaction to the word no. In sales situations, when a rejection comes as a surprise or without explanation, it can, for lack of a better term, simply bug you. A rational, logic analysis of why that no came about can go a long way towards getting a yes in the future.
In my sales experiences, I have found that when people say no the reason almost always falls into one of three categories. I could always attribute the rejection to either thinking, positioning or just gut feelings. Whenever my analysis led me to believe the prospect declined because of a gut feeling, one of two things would prove true: either the prospect did not like or trust the sales person or the prospect did not like or trust the company.
Take the following example: As a new rep for an established gift products company, Sue decides to go after a contract with a large national retailer. After several weeks of unreturned phone calls, impenetrable gatekeepers and ignored messages, she finally speaks to her manager about the problem. He informs Sue that, several years earlier, the company had a dispute with the retail chain store and the outcome had left the chain store executives very unhappy.
In a company dispute, management must always consider the long term effects of the resolution they agree upon. When a large client expresses dissatisfaction with an issue, a resolution that does not address their concerns will be long remembered. In many cases, the loss that conceding in with a particular issue may cause can be easily offset by continued business. On the other hand, saving potential cost by refusing to please the customer can result in loss of future sales.
With a difficult situation ahead of her, Sue decides to attempt to bring this large potential customer back on board. Since the rift occurred in top level management, a powerful strategy would be to arrange a meeting between her top level manager and the prospects. The meeting’s primary objective should be to instill trust within the chain store’s management team, making them see that the company will do everything possible to resolve issue fairly in the future. If she manages to get such a meeting, her company must be presented as a viable partner in whom they can have trust and respect.
With the intense competition sales professionals face in almost every industry, it can be very difficult to make a sale with a prospect who simply does not like you or your company. While it is not necessary to be ingratiating or insincere, a heightened sensitivity to your prospects’ situation can position you more favorably in their eyes. Should your company’s policies leave your prospects with a feeling of cold detachment, you will almost always find that shortly after, they will form a more pleasant business relationship with another vendor. Commit to developing relationships with your prospects, sometimes at the expense of short term sales. In most cases, the approach will be duly noted and may increase your powers of persuasion and influence.
