When Should A Salesman Take No for an Answer?

Posted on 04. Aug, 2008 in Newsletter

By: Justin Demetsky

For those of you out there who have read my articles, you know that I make no bones about the fact that I’m a career salesman, and I am a straight shooter. .I am clear on where I stand on my opinions, issues feedback, and experiences in the sales world. In my last article “The life of a salesman”, I discussed how 99% of the population would rather spend every day of their lives watching the Miami Dolphins games from last year, than sell for a living. Anyway, I discussed in that article that I have worked in many industries and most of the skills, practices, fundamentals, closing techniques, etc. all spill over and work for almost all other sales industries.

Throughout nearly a decade of selling, I have been on both sides of the fence in terms of being a high pressure salesman versus being a low pressure salesman. In both areas, I saw the concept my managers embraced had value to them, but that there were many flaws as well. One of my first sales jobs was selling cars for a big Chevrolet dealership in Pittsburgh. They were totally high pressure and I was trained to just hammer the customer to no end, and then if I couldn’t hammer the prospect into a sale, I had to get a manager to come hit them with a stronger hammer. It very rarely worked, and when it did, it was just because they offered a lower deal that I didn’t have the authority to offer. Ninety percent of the time the customers left angry and it was obvious they had a miserable experience, and would never be back.

If the customer sees the salesman as applying high pressure techniques, you instantly lose any credibility or rapport you have developed. They can smell that you are only after your commission, and that if what you are selling was so great, you wouldn’t have to pressure them so much. When a salesman applies high pressure tactics, it omits a lack of confidence in their product. If someone says no to a salesman who sells a great product at a great price, he will let the person walk because he is sure there is a strong possibility the customer won’t find a better deal and will be back. When a salesperson is high pressure, they offend the customers, give all salespeople a bad reputation, and do an injustice to their prospect. They didn’t know when to take no for an answer.

However, there are also many salespeople who are too low pressure and take no for an answer too easily. They too, are doing their customer an injustice and do an injustice to their prospect as well, in a different manner. I’ll never forget when I started working as a loan officer and for training I went out on appointments with the manager and other senior salesmen to people’s houses to shadow and learn from him on how to get people to refinance their mortgage with our company. I went on two or three visits and once the prospect objected and said they weren’t interested , the guys training me merely gave them their card, thanked them for their time and left. They never asked what they were concerned about, what it would take to make the offer intriguing enough to be interested, or schedule a time to come back with a different proposal. Just like the car salesmen, they didn’t know when to take no for an answer either, but with them it was because they took no for an answer to easily.

After a few more of these “training sessions”, I told the owner I wanted to go out on my own, because I was ready to jump in and thought my style would work well . So I went out on my own and thought a lot about how I read in one of Zig Ziglar’s books that most people buy after saying no three to four times to the salesman. So I decided I wasn’t going to be a high pressure monster like I was selling cars, but that I also was going to ask the right questions, uncover the reason they didn’t want to do business, and then come up with a solution to overcome the objections to make the deal. That week, I was the newest loan officer at the branch and in my first week of going on appointments I had more loans started in the process, appointments, applications, and return appointments than any of the other fifteen or so loan officers had in months. My boss couldn’t believe how I did it and asked me what I was doing to get so many deals. I told him it was all because of one thing, when to take no for an answer and when not to take no for answer. When people told me no, I found out why, then explained things clearer to them or used a different angle that they understood better and asked for the sale again. If they still said no, I would dig deeper , and finally if that didn’t work I would use a soft takeaway and say maybe it’s not best for them, but then ask if there was a number or point that would appeal to them enough to consider it. Usually, they threw something out and no matter how unlikely the figure was I scheduled a return visit with them and thanked them for their time, and I would return with something that was along the lines of what they said would work.

I learned a lot from those, because even though I was considered high pressure by my colleagues, I really wasn’t in my opinion. I was much softer than I was trained and ordered to be when in car sales and other sales jobs. There were times on appointments in mortgages where I could tell right away the person had no interest, didn’t want me there, and was wasting my time. So, after going through a shorter presentation, I ended it and politely thanked them for their time and asked if they knew anyone who may be interested in saving money on their mortgage.

So the answer to this issue is one I have figured out and believe is the only correct answer to when a salesman should take no for an answer. The answer is ……..there is no answer, it all depends on you, what your selling and the circumstances. Sometimes by pressuring people and refusing to take anything less than an agreement to buy from the person, it works when it wouldn’t if you had been soft. Most of the time it works the other way.. In general I feel a happy medium is the best medium. By this I mean where you attempt to overcome the objections and once you get to a certain point , there is nothing left to do, so you part ways. Alot of if depends on interest too. When I sold cars it drove me nuts when I would take a couple on a test drive in a car that fit what their needs, but didn’t appeal to them at all. I say this because after the test drive, I would have to try to negotiate a deal and get a payment commitment on a care they didn’t want, my manager would come over and try to close them on something they obviously didn’t want and there was no chance of a sale, and all he did was aggravate them and tarnish our reputation.

To summarize ……..this issue that is complex, disagreed upon , and hard to answer…….the best thing to do is trust your judgment, do your job, and don’t be too soft or too high pressure.. If you smell blood and know you’re close to the sale, keep going but in a tactful and friendly manner. If you overcome their objections and do all you can to show them what you are offering is of great benefit to them and they just don’t get it , walk away and go get another sale. Spend your time on prospects that are interested , and don’t waste your time on prospects that won’t buy. Deep down you know when to take no for an answer, and when not to. Trust your gut instinct and even though you’ll get lots of no’s….. they will lead to lots more yes’s.

Articles contributed by the following Affiliates of TechAnimals.com

Justin Demetsky has been in sales for over seven years in many industries including real estate, auto and mortgages. He has been a top producer everywhere he has worked. He is currently an Account Executive for Manufacturers Resource Network where he sells construction equipment. Justin grew up in Virginia and attended Robert Morris University where he was an offensive lineman on the football team. In 2002 Justin moved to Salt Lake City, Utah where he currently resides.

Free Newsletter available on website. The “Elite Newsletter for Sales Professionals” is a sales professional newsletter designed exclusively for those currently in a sales position, seeking a sales position, or looking to hire quality sales people.