If you have been around the sales and business owner block for a while, you understand the mental strength necessary to cope with rejection. Sometimes becoming numb to the rejection can be both a blessing and a curse. How many times have you submitted a proposal, giving free consults and went through presentations where the person didn’t end up doing any business with you?
The first few times your company gets rejected for a gig, you probably take it to heart and then put some thought into why the prospect declined the opportunity to work with you. But then after a while you probably become a bit immune to the rejection, and that is when you don’t even bother going back to watch the game tape.
The four reasons why people don’t buy or want your help comes down to ; No Need, No Money, No Time/Urgency, No Trust. Last week we looked at No Need. Today let’s dissect No Money.
No money
If you hear the “no money” response it could be a blessing in disguise- if it is sincere. Would you rather someone state they have no money so you can move on to the next prospect or would you rather be teased down a path of wasted time, energy and resources to find out they do not have the money to receive your services or product?
If you believe their response is sincere then you must make the determination first if you have time to explore this prospect further and second if your service or product is a necessity or more luxury item to this individual. If business is slow and you were just going to hang out in front of your computer next week AND your service leans toward the necessity side, then you may want to meet with this person still. You could get the true answer and also build the relationship for the future in way of referrals or if when they have the money to act.
Is there a chance you could save the person money by switching to your service or by doing business with you? If so, take them out for coffee or set up another time to see if you can learn more about their situation to find out if you can “free up” some dollars for other things. Please recognize that no matter what you say, they will still be stuck on notion of a new bill instead of new potential savings. So use language to the tune of “hey, leave their check book at home for this meeting. I just want to see if I can help you free up dollars in your ‘________’ department for other things that are more important to you or your business”.
Writing a new check is what they are ultimately objecting to, right? If you can help them to save money on your service, then you can follow up with the proposal and collect the check at a later date. The key would be to get in front of the person to learn more about their situation. Again, only do this if business is on the slower side as it is a risky investment in your time and energy.
If you are dealing with more luxury items, then you might want to re-evaluate your marketing strategy if you are hearing the “no-money” objection from many prospective clients. You would need to prospect into a different market – which takes time.
Many times “no money” isn’t sincere. Sure the prospect may not want to spend their money on your service at this time, but they probably do have the money to do so and if you are calling on them you probably do sense there is a potential need. If this is the case, use language that exhibits more of a reallocation of expendable funds in their existing budget. Reallocating is a great connection word versus them adding a new expense line item to their budget. Also, if your product or service can “kill two birds with one stone” or satisfy more than one need (or want) in their life they will be more apt to do business with you. View how your service or product can fulfill multiple needs with one check.
About
Eddy Ricci, Jr., has been labeled as “the emerging expert in developing Gen Y sales professionals” by the chairman of Publicis Kaplan Thaler and is also noted as “understanding what motivates Gen Y sales teams. He is on my radar and should be on yours” by international speaker and NY Times bestselling author, Erik Qualman. He is the founder of The Growth Game, LLC. ,a professional development company and has authored a book that holds the same title. Eddy specializes in helping professionals and firms develop sales skills, leadership approaches and implement business development activity systems. He currently works with financial planning firms in the northeast where he has arguably worked with more gen-y financial planning professionals in the country. WWW.THEGROWTHGAME.COM
