Networking

I said, “No.”

What is it about “no” that you don’t understand?

Generations of salespeople have been told that when a prospect tells you “no” it’s really a request for more information.

You may have heard that the “sale” doesn’t really begin until your prospect tells you “no.”

I say, “Baloney.”

Sometimes a “no” means “no.”

Try this on. When your prospects tell you “no”, it’s a good thing especially when you control the “no.”

You’ve heard of “Getting to Yes.”

I believe in getting to “No.”

Let me make an educated guess.

You don’t like hearing the word “no.”

Ever since you were very young you’ve done your best to avoid being told “No.” The word “no” seems so negative.

A “no” in the world of selling is looked upon as a negative.

If your sales process results in a “no”, it’s usually viewed as a setback.

Therefore, most salespeople hate the word “no.”

It doesn’t have to be that way.

I believe that there is a better way to look at a “no.”

I believe that you can shift the emotional response you have to this two letter, little devil.

Think of it this way—-

You don’t really hate to hear ‘No”—

You hate not knowing when a “no” is coming.

If a prospect is going to tell you “no”— when would you rather find out about it— early in the sales cycle, or late in the sales cycle?

Here’s the tip - Attempt to uncover a “no” from your prospect as soon as possible.

Please notice that my coaching instruction was to uncover a “no.”

Avoid creating a “no.”

One of your main objectives as a salesperson is to uncover a “no” that was going to happen anyway.

Let your prospect know that it’s OK if they come to the conclusion that your product or service is not what they’re specifically looking for.

Let them know that it’s OK for them to say, “No, thank you.”

Let them know that you’d prefer a “yes”, and— it’s OK if they tell you “no.”

When you set up this agreement there is a fascinating by-product.

You will stop hearing prospects say “maybe”, or “I need to think it over” as a substitute for… “No.”

This alone will help you reduce the length of your “sales cycle.”

You won’t be chasing after people who have no intention of doing business with you, but are afraid that if they tell you “no” you’ll start selling even harder.

This tip will reduce the stress levels experienced by both parties— guaranteed.

I urge you to find training programs like those provided through BusinessSuccessBuilder.com that will help you say the right things and ask the right questions …so you can uncover a “no” that was going to happen anyway.

To your success.

Copyright 2006 Ike Krieger

Ike Krieger is a business mentor, author and speaker. Ike helps businesspeople say the right thing, at the right time all the time. Find out how to get more clients, more referrals and more sales, and do it with dignity. His “Yes Formula”

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I urge my clients to be authentic, be a good listener, ask powerful open-ended questions, be truly interested, and find out what’s important to the other person.

This also sounds like a pretty good system for effective dating.

After all, if you dominate the dating conversation, talk only about yourself, or focus on why it’s a good idea for the other person to respond to your “offer”, your results will be, at best, hit and miss.

Jenny, my wife of 33 years, tells me that she would hate to be in the “dating pool” again. She’s a great communicator, but would be less than overjoyed at the possibility of facing rejection. Plus… she fears that saying the wrong thing might maker her come off looking stupid. (This, for her, is impossible.)

Many in the dating pool share these concerns.

Selling is a lot like dating. Each is dramatically important to our survival. One brings us the opportunity for approval and love; the other brings us the opportunity for approval and money.

The fear, and it is fear, that we won’t “cut the mustard”, or live up to the expectations of the prospect, is an emotion that’s present in both activities.

What are we afraid of?

We’re afraid that despite our best efforts, our “prospect” will reject us or our offer. Even worse, they might tell us, “Don’t call me. I’ll call you.”

Jenny tells me that from their early teens women are taught a system for dating.

They have been trained to “listen to a guy” in order to “catch” him. If you don’t believe me, check some old issues of Seventeen or Teen. It’s a time-honored tradition, rightly or wrongly.

Most salespeople and most daters attempt to “close the deal” without using a well defined communications system.

Being authentic and speaking from the heart in your dating or sales communications doesn’t mean that it’s in your best interest to “wing it.”

Whether it’s for selling or dating, I suggest that you use a system to help you build up your skill muscle for authentic and effective communication.

For years, my clients have been telling me that my selling system has made a big difference in their personal lives as well. This is gratifying, but not surprising.

Effective communication is effective communication, no matter what it’s designed for.

When I developed my communications system I had a goal.

Over the years my clients have been telling me that they wanted to learn a way to say the right thing, at the right time all the time. Being able to do that would seem to be a sure way to attract more clients, more referrals, more sales, and more dates.

So, my system is designed to produce those results 100% of the time and it doesn’t.

Let me explain why that’s okay.

My favorite metaphors relate to the world of sports. In most competitive sports the participants follow a game plan that focuses on winning 100% of the time.

For instance, each play in a football playbook is based on a system designed to score a touchdown every time. We know that doesn’t happen, but that’s the focus. The team has a system and they follow it.

Here’s the tip - Adopt a focus and a communications system for your business that you’re comfortable with and follow it.

What should you look for in a communications system?

You want a system that’s designed to help you make more quality contacts and then turn those contacts in to contracts, or clients, 100% of the time, and we know that’s doesn’t happen.

In light of that reality you want a system that will help you quickly uncover a “no” that’s going to happen anyway. You want a system that will allow you to watch an increase in the number of prospects who say “yes.”

You want a system that will help you produce results more easily and more often, and at the same time, help you experience a decrease in “sales related” stress.

How you market and sell yourself determines how effectively you market and sell your product or expertise. It’s all about the effective and authentic use of language.

No one taught us how to say the “right thing” or ask the right questions in sales, or in dating. We certainly weren’t taught in our schools.

It’s time for just such a system and I’m proud to say it’s available right now.

Ike Krieger is a business mentor, author and speaker. Ike has develped a system that will help you get more clients, more referrals and more sales, and do it with dignity. His “Yes Formula”

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Are you in sales?

You may not think you sell for a living, yet the answer to the question is probably, “Yes.”

Whether your business success revolves around bringing in more clients, receiving quality referrals, or actually closing more deals you’re in sales, and just like the rest of us, you’re selling all the time.

Nothing happens in the world of commerce until something gets sold.

The fact that you’re in sales means you face a dilemma. You have to sell to live… and virtually no one likes to be sold to.

You’re probably proud of the product, service, or expertise you market and sell, yet most of the people that work with me in my “Language of Success

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