In sales we do a lot of talking, training and coaching about how to get new customers, but we probably don’t talk enough about what to do and how to respond when we are rejected and buyers refuse to buy. It’s understandable why everyone in the selling universe likes to focus on winning rather than losing, but we all know that you never win ’em all.

Here’s an example why it’s so distasteful to dwell on the negative, a.k.a. losing. Without taking time in this post to share the entire story, a former boss of mine 40 years ago walked into my office one morning and fired me on the spot. It was bad enough to lose my job, but what I heard next from this guy was simply unbelievable: “I want you to go home and fill your bathtub with water. Bend down and stick your hand in the water and then pull your hand out real quick. For however long the hole remains in the water where your hand was, that’s how long I’ll miss you.”

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MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU, Selling Point subscriber. My gift for you during this season is a link to a complete, uncut audio copy of my talk, Fail-Yuh to Communicate, recorded live this past September. I hope you will use it as a training tool for a sales meeting or a coaching session with your sales and/or service teams.

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It’s often said that refusals and rejections are like knives. They can either help you or hurt you, depending on whether you grab them by the handle or by the blade. So when one of your buyers say “no” when you attempt to close, what thoughts go through your mind and what actions do you take as you “pick up the knife?”

In his book, How to Win Customers & Keep Them for Life, Michael LeBoeuf said that regardless how you feel when a customer refuses to buy; you should “reward their refusals with polite appreciation.” He goes on to state that you should keep these points in mind after hearing a “no”:

1. (LeBoeuf) Make every moment of truth count. (Doug) Whether it’s unmet buyer needs, perceived inflexibility of your firm, weak support after the sale, or slow response time; make sure you use each fork in the road as a building block for future wins.

2. (LeBoeuf) Think long term and keep the big picture in mind. (Doug) It’s not the customers you lose but the ones you win and keep that count. By maintaining that perspective, over time you will lose fewer customers on the front end and keep more for longer on the back end.

3. (LeBoeuf) Don’t take refusals personally or let them immobilize you. (Doug) In an average NFL football game a quarterback takes about 65 snaps. What would happen if the QB was sacked on the first play of the game, and as a result decided to just sit down on the bench and suck his thumb?

4. (LeBoeuf) Resolve to learn something from every refusal. (Doug) We have all heard that, “If you keep doing what you’re doing, you’ll keep getting what you’re getting.” Make sure to hold a post-mortem following each refusal to determine why you lost it. If you not sure, don’t be shy about contacting the buyer and asking him or her. Tell them this is how you feed your family, and you can’t afford for this to happen again. As you compile and work through the reasons you are being rejected, you will begin to close more often.

5. (LeBoeuf) Cultivate the habit of intelligent persistence. (Doug) While you should never abandon your ultimate goal of winning and keeping customers, there are times when giving up on a particular prospect makes good sense. Although you never give up easily, there’s a fine line between persistence and foolishness.

The most successful people at winning and keeping customers hear a whole lot more no’s than yes’s. But they have become winners because they realize that the way to become a winner is to make it okay to lose from time to time.

More importantly, they practice Winston Churchill’s formula for success, quoted here from one of his more famous speeches given in October 1941: “Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never–in nothing, great or small, large or petty–never give in, except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.” Salespeople would do well to follow the late statesman’s advice.

 

©2014 Robinson Training Solutions, LLC