Tag Archives: No

Be Prepared for “NO”

There are three things you need to know about business owners. They are savvy, they are extremely busy, and they are nice… most of the time! Oh, and they are extremely busy!

Because they are nice (most of the time) but busy, over time they have evolved and come up with four of the “most common” ways to stop radio reps in their tracks by saying…

1.    “My budget is set for the year. Come back next year.”

2.    “We are so busy we can’t handle any more business.”

3.    “Send me your media kit.”

4.    “I tried radio once. It didn’t work.”

 …and because they are savvy and can adapt and evolve faster than the average human, their latest and greatest objection, post-COVID is, “We can’t get any product, so there is no reason to advertise”.

Number one is rarely ever true. If you’re talking to the right person who establishes the budget, they can change that budget whenever they want to. Don’t buy this objection.

What he/she is really saying is, “I don’t know you. I don’t trust you and I have no reason to believe that what you offer will get me an adequate return on my investment”. If they did trust you or believe you, they would agree to see you. Or, if you were presenting to them and asking them to buy, they would either revise their budget or pay for the schedule with the additional business your idea would bring to their business.

Number two is also rarely ever true, as most business owners will always say, “doing great is never good enough”. They ALWAYS want more. If in the rare case it is true, you now know a category where there are one or more competitors that you can approach and help capture the business “Mr./Mrs. Busy” can’t handle.

Number three, the media kit, is just a polite way of saying “Get lost”, “I’m not interested”, and/or, “you’re a nice person, I just don’t believe you’re here to help me”. Besides, no one has ever bought advertising based on a “pretty” media kit.

When a prospect asks for a media kit, a seasoned professional will respond by opening the door to more productive questioning. The professional media rep will be prepared and tell their prospect that they don’t want to bombard them with irrelevant information and then dig into what they would specifically like to see in the “the media kit”. The questions and answers that follow can result in delivering a customer-focused presentation instead of a generic media kit.

…and number four, “I tried radio once and it didn’t work!” There are several reasons why it may not have worked. You need to be prepared to walk them through why it may not have worked.

If you would like to learn how to build a positive, professional relationship, and build trust with your suspects and prospects so they won’t say “NO”, reach out to us. We can help show you how. The investment to do so is much less expensive than one “NO” a year!!!

Your Client Has Said ‘No’, Now What? Part 2 of 3

10 steps to take after your prospect says ‘no’. 

            In last week’s ENS on Sales, we said you would probably rather endure a root canal than hear your prospect say, “We like your presentation but……”

But understanding why a prospect says no is one of the most valuable steps towards yes in your entire sales process.

In this issue, we’ll explore the first five of the 10 Things You Can Do After Your Client Says No, not counting taking hostages until they say yes.

 

Step 1:  Never Take No Personally. Structure your presentation so that ‘no means no’ to this particular presentation ,this idea or at this time… not no to you personally.

I’ve always felt that if the client says no, they are the loser not me, because I’m simply offering to solve their problems.

Never let your tone or body language convey disappointment after no.

Change your posture and demeanor to one of curiosity and sincere interest.

 

Step 2:   Take Responsibility for the No.

Generally, when you get a no, it means you missed a no earlier in the process. After no, you need to retrace your steps to find the no you missed along the way.

Take responsibility for the no with questions like;
Did I misunderstand your goals?
or….

Can you help me understand why my proposal isn’t appropriate at this time?
Perhaps you misread the prospect’s goals or budget?
Did you establish rapport? Did you build your brand and credibility before making the presentation?
Did you relate to the buyers style?

or…
Has something changed since you conducted your initial CAN (customer needs analysis)?

Never argue and never try to prove the prospect is wrong.  Always ask questions to discover where you missed the mark.

To take responsibility for no, you must understand the root cause of ALL nos.

Your prospect did not agree to sit still for your presentation because they had no interest. Assuming you are talking to the real decision maker, no really means, “You have not convinced me that I will get a return on my investment”.

What would you guess is the number one reason advertisers advertise?

Our survey, of 540 locally owned and operated businesses, revealed that the number one reason businesses advertise is to increase sales. The root cause of no is always that you have not convinced your prospect that you will increase their sales.

So the ‘no budget’ excuse, or any other excuse for no is always a cover for the real reason. You have not convinced the prospect that you have the best solution to increasing sales.

Business owners are entrepreneurs by nature and seek to minimize the risk in every investment. Entrepreneurs will sell their car or borrow from their mother if your presentation convinced them their investment will pay off.

A no can only be turned into a yes when your prospect wants to achieve the goals you have identified and when they believe your solution is cost effective.

You made your proposal because you believed it was good for the prospect, and now you need to take responsibility to learn why it missed the mark so you can make a better presentation the next time.

 

        Step 3: Be Prepared to Negotiate.

Some buyers say ‘no’ as a negotiation tactic to capture a better deal.

Always build enough into your presentation to leave room to maneuver.
Never offer so much value-added or other perks in your initial presentation, that you have no room to sweeten the pie.

Again, ask questions to determine if this is a negotiation tactic. Questions like; What would we have to do to make our proposal work for you?

Be prepared to practice our ‘Negotiation One-O-One’…never give one without getting one.
If your prospect asks for a lower rate, you can’t concede without changing the rotation, asking for a longer commitment, or some other concession.

 

        Step 4:  After no, Always Leave the Door Open. If you have not been able to turn the no into a yes, get agreement on next steps, again through questioning.

Questions like: Now that I have a better understanding of your situation, may I make an appointment to do another presentation that addresses your concerns and achieves your objectives?

Always try to get agreement on a specific time table for next steps.

 

        Step 5:  If the no is a veiled no, like, “I have to think about it” or “I have to talk to my partner or accountant”, ask questions to remove the veil.

Questions like: What is it in our proposal that requires more thought?

or
May I have the opportunity to meet with you and your partner to explore this further?

 

In our next blog, we’ll address the rest of our 10 things to do after your prospect says no.

 

ENSMedia Inc. 705-484-9993

Your Prospects says “No”..Now What?

Part 1 of 3

 After putting all of your effort and creativity into a presentation, you would probably rather endure a root canal than hear your prospect say, “We like your presentation but…..”

This is the first of a three-part series of ENS on Sales to address what sales professionals do after their prospect says “no”.

Understanding why a prospect says no is one of the most valuable steps towards yes in your entire sales process.

We often run sales contests where the salesperson who captures the most ‘no’s’ wins first prize.

Second prize in our ‘no’ contest goes to the salesperson who captures the most yeses.

Here is the thing, the person who captures first prize for the most no’s,  ALWAYS captures the most yeses as well. Always.

So before we explore what to do after no, let’s discuss the psychology of no in the selling process.

Fear of rejection or hearing ‘no’ can be a huge attitude killer if not put into perspective.

Psychologists know that to manage stress, you have to only concern yourself over that with which you have direct control. You do not have absolute control over whether your client says yes or no.

What you do have control over is how much effort you put into preparing a proposal that meets the customers’ needs. You also have control over how many times you ask for a sale and, of course, the quality of those asks does influence your closing ratio.

Success breeds enthusiasm and more success, so it is imperative that you define your success in terms of things you control.

If you define success as getting a yes….you’ll inevitably feel like a failure some days.

But if you define success as making X number of prequalified, high-quality, customer-focused presentations, you can achieve that goal, and feel like a success each day.

By the way, if you get a yes more than 50% of the time, do not pat yourself on the back too much.  High closing ratios simply mean you’re calling on the easy accounts, or not asking for enough.

One more thing before we address what to do after no….you need to manage WHEN you get to “no”.

When you get a no at the end of your presentation, it simply means there was really a no earlier in the presentation that you did not uncover.

If you purposely and tactfully captured a yes on each point in your presentation on the way towards your close, there will be no surprise no’s.

It’s important for you to encourage an agreement, or disagreement, each step of the way during your presentation.

In next week’s ENS on Sales, we’ll explore the 10 steps to take after your prospect says ‘no’.

 

ENSMedia Inc. 705-484-9993

Take Responsibility for ‘No’

You need to take responsibility when a prospect says ‘No’ to your presentation.

          Busy decision makers do not take time to make an appointment to see your presentation unless they have an interest in what you have to offer. When they do take time to see you, but turn down your proposal, you have either misdiagnosed their situation and objectives during your Customer Needs Analysis (CNA), or your presentation missed the mark.

          We review hundreds of radio presentations every month to help our station clients create better presentations and improve their closing ratios.

          Often your presentation misses the mark because of the lack of use of power- words. We reviewed one presentation this week, for example, where the heading on the last page was ‘Suggested Spend’.

          It would have been much more powerful to say ‘Recommended Investment.’

          A recommendation is stronger than a suggestion, and everyone would rather invest than spend.

         Paying careful attention to your use of language and power words in your presentations can be one of the steps in creating more successful

presentations.
Your presentations also need to address your prospects conversationally, and directly. That same presentation we reviewed read, ‘Advertisers should…..’ where it should have read ‘You should….’ speaking more directly to the client rather than to all advertisers generically.

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Wayne Ens
705-484-9993