When you are a salesman working on commission, trying meet a quota, or trying to keep your business afloat, the word “no” seems like the worst thing in the world.  However, as we have learned in sales, sometimes as a good salesman you have to go for no.  Here are three reasons to push for a no:

1. To not waste time

As much as you want everyone you meet with to become a client for your company, you cannot expect that to happen.  You don’t want to pour tons of time and resources into a client that ultimately has no intention of buying from you.  Not only is it not helpful for you to have used all of this time you could have been using on other clients in vain, but you are wasting the time of whoever you have been trying to sell to, which is just as valuable.

2. To push a decision

Sometimes when people hear the words “no” on a partnership they are still interested, this puts them in a position to go ahead and make a decision.  This can sometimes help to push past all of the back and forth that salespeople deal with when trying to make a sale.  This indicates to the client that you want to “close the sale or close the file”.

3. To asses a client’s interest

The client’s reaction to the salesperson’s mention of the word no can give you an indication of how invested they are in the project.  If they react strongly, the probably are still really interested in what you have to offer.  If not, they may have realized the partnership is not going to be something that is mutually beneficial.

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