Hello there!
One important sales concept we have been talking about in class is going for no. In other words, give the customer permission to say no. This is helpful for three reasons:
It gives the customer confidence
If the customer truly wants to buy your product, going for no will merely encourage them to say, “Wait, no!” If they are indecisive in any way, it helps push them to make a decision rather than being wishy-washy. By giving the illusion of taking the deal away, it helps customers move past indecision.
It gives the customer trust
By giving the customer permission to say no, it shows that you care about the customer’s needs more than getting a commission. Traditional salespeople imagery has been engrained in many customers’ minds, so by being interested in their needs, it shows that you actually want to be helpful, and it shows you are human. “The toughest thing about the power of trust is that it’s very difficult to build and very easy to destroy. The essence of trust-building is the emphasize the similarities between you and the customer” says Thomas J Watson.
Failure is a learning experience
As a salesperson, it is important to completely fail at some points because it helps you learn how to become better and stronger. Without failure, it is hard to learn. Winston Churchill says, “Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm.” Failure is the foundation for learning for entrepreneurs, so it is important to embrace it rather than be scared of it.
BoweryJE22
There have been a number of occasions where I, the customer, have felt as if I was not allowed to say no. It made me feel uncomfortable and I really did not want to buy the product after that sales speech. This is a very helpful post, clear and concise and straight to the point. I like it.
I was so surprised when we started talking about going for the no. It seems like such a backwards concept, right? Like we want the customer to say to what we’re selling and buy it but really, are we? As salespeople and wanting the very best experience for our customer we really want them to say their best yes and their healthiest no and sometimes that means going for the no in a sales conversation. This was an interesting concept to mull over.
Great post! You did a great job at summarizing the concept of going for no. I too was surprised to learn about this technique, but as it was explained, I could begin to understand the value of such an approach. Going for no allows the customer to truly say yes or walk away if you simply aren’t a good fit. This technique removes the pressure that normally amounts with sales.