Last weeks lesson about giving permission for the customer to say “no” reminded me of my uncle and how he does not do this. When he finds someone he really wants to sell to, he focuses on selling to them and puts aside anyone else who might be interested. Sometimes he will try so hard to make a sale with a certain person simply because he thinks it is a good fit, even if the prospect isn’t showing too much enthusiasm about it but hasn’t said “no”. By doing this, he doesn’t give attention to the other people who are actually more interested and are more likely to close a sale. He tries so hard that the customer most likely is scared to say that he’s not interested. If he gave them the choice to say no, he could save the time he wasted on them and use it to find a customer who is actually going to make a sale. You can’t force a sale on anyone and it is simply a waste of time to try so hard when it was never going to happen in the first place.
BoweryJE22
I have seen this happen way too many times. Going back to when I was in business for myself, I remember numerous occasions where I knew in my head that the prospective client was not interested in what we were offering but we continued to try and sell to them simply because they hadn’t come out with a “no” yet. Accepting that not everyone can say yes would have saved us valuable time that could have been used elsewhere.
I think sometimes customers are ready to say no, but when vendors keep pushing really hard, they get lured in to the idea that they will be cut a better deal if they wait it out. I think that in any selling situation, it’s wise for the seller to set a target time by which he or she will move on if there is no final answer from the client, because that time can be better spent elsewhere.
The simple fact of the matter is that most of the people you talk to are not going to buy from you. Giving them an out early on gives you the ability to focus your efforts in more profitable areas instead of wasting both your time and the prospect’s.