Why Is It So Important to Learn How to
Say "NO" to a Customer?
Steve,
GREAT question! Thank you!
It sounds like you know what to do. That is the biggest challenge. You are already there. Think of the doctor/client relationship. You would never make an appointment with your doctor, wait for him to come into the exam room and immediately declare, "Hi Doc, I want surgery next Friday." That is because you know that "PRESCRIPTION BEFORE DIAGNOSIS IS MALPRACTICE!"
Being able to consult, provide insight and get clients to think differently is at the core of the Trust Triangle Selling methodology. Therefore a key skill that sales superstars must implement is how to guide a client down a mutually agreed upon pathway to success. Let's say your client tells you that he wants to do A, B & C, but you believe it is in her best interest to do D, E and F. Responding to this predicament is a high level consultative selling skill that can be taught.
Here's how you say "NO" or guide the client.
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Step One: Obtain clarity on why they want to do A B C.
- Step Two: Agree with them ("Sure, we can do that"). Show empathy. Don't fight.
- Step Three: Bolster and provide PROOF for your alternative position by sharing what OTHER clients have done. The OTHER clients should be as similar to your client as possible. Share stories that serve as either a positive example or a negative example.
- Step Four: Offer the alternative that you feel would be better for them.
Here's an example of exactly what the interaction would sound like:
CUSTOMER: We would like for your company to provide a demonstration of your product to us next week. We have set aside Friday at 2:00 in the executive conference room.
Step One: Get clarity on why they want to do A B C.
SALES REP: Thank you! We appreciate being selected to help your team. Can you please provide some additional details around your current and future plans for how you plan to utilize our solution?
CUSTOMER: Well, we want it to be able to bla, bla, bla, bla....
Step Two: Agree ("Sure, we can do that") with them. Show empathy. Don't fight.
SALES REP: Sure, we can pull the resources together to present a demonstration to you. From a high level what you are requesting seems like a good match for what can address for you.
Step Three: Bolster and provide PROOF for your alternative position by sharing what OTHER clients have done. The OTHER clients should be as similar to your client as possible. Share stories that serve as either a positive example or a negative example.
SALES REP: Let me share with you what happened just last week when we provided a demonstration for HI TECH Corp. They are VERY similar to your company. They asked us to do exactly what you have asked us to do. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a 110% DISASTER. Our solution worked great but there were 2 HUGE PROBLEMS:
- The data we presented was not customized specifically to their world and pains.
- The timing of the demonstration was incorrect. It should have been two months from now based upon their project time frame
The result was that the project leader took a bunch of heat from their senior executive team. I'd like to be sure that their problem is not duplicated with your team.
Step Four: Offer the alternative that you feel would be better for them.
SALES REP: Rather than jump to a demo, why don't we spend some time doing a deep exploration of your specific short and longer term needs and determine what the timeline for your project should look like. Once we do that, they we can assess IF we are the right solution for you and if yes, when the best time for the demo would be. This approach will really save you from a large potential migraine.
(Note: Steps 3 & 4 may be flipped depending upon the specific issue and flow of the conversation.)
You can see in this example I chose a negative story to provide the proof for my desire to "guide" them in a different direction. Remember, I could also have selected a positive story.
Steve, you are 80% of the way to understanding how to guide your customer. You know what you should be doing. This newsletter helped you to understand exactly HOW to do it.
Sincerely,
