International Radio Sales Training Consultant and radioinfo contributor, Pat Bryson will speak at the National Radio Conference in Brisbane next week about How deeper conversations with clients can increase revenue.
As part of that topic, here’s Pat’s latest post: Hearing NO is a good thing.
No salesperson likes to hear “No”. But, other than hearing “Yes”, it is the best response we can hear from our prospects. What we DON’T want to hear is NOTHING. If you tracked the responses you’ve received from potential clients, I would bet that many of them never told you “Yes” or “No”. They just faded away in indecision.
Why can’t clients make a decision? Perhaps they don’t have enough information to make a quality decision.
Make sure that your proposal clearly addresses your client’s needs. Are your client’s needs still the same as when you first presented? Ask your client what additional information they might need to formulate a decision.
Other decision-makers need to be brought into the process.
Ask your prospect early in the process who else will be involved in the decision-making process. Contact those other influencers and make sure your proposal is on-target with them as well.
They seem suspicious of you, your process, and/or your product.
Have you made small promises along the way and kept them? Ask them how they like to do business. Are you satisfying those requirements? Pay attention to behavioral styles.
You may have attempted to close too soon.
Have you used “tracking phrases” as a means of getting small agreements along the process? Have you had your client’s agreement on budget, time frames, goals?
There is no immediacy in your proposal to motivate the prospect to act now.
Put a rate deadline on your proposal. Include an expiration date for your plan.
Once you have heard “No” from your client, you can begin the sales process again. “No’s” don’t lose buys for you: indecision kills deals!
Read more posts in her radioinfo series: Selling Radio with Pat Bryson. (subscribers only).