Learning from “NO” to get to a “Yes”

A needed selling skill for the tough economic times on the farm.

Last week, we went over the fact that farmers shop harder during tough times.  This week, I want to also remind salespeople that in tough times producers will reduce all expenses with their vendors.  You are going to experience more “No” responses in your closing questions than you did previously.

That fear of rejection (no) is still one of the strongest emotions that salespeople have.  So fearful, many salespeople will find any excuse not to cold call or prospect.  Just the act of turning the steering wheel and driving down the farmers driveway seems impossible. 

And if they overcome the fear of actually stopping to make the cold call, they are so fearful, they fail to ask a closing question. Even after spending months or years to get a sales call and spending an hour or more on the sales call, our fearful salesperson simply does not ask the prospect to buy.  Remember the old saying, “If you don’t ask, the answer is always “No”!  This means it is actually riskier to not ask a closing question.

The ultimate NO that is most feared by almost every salesperson is the “Price Objection NO”.  This one seems to stop a salesperson dead in their tracks and kills their motivation to sell.  With tighter farm economics, you are going to run into more “No” responses.  Customers simply cut back on everything they possibly can.  You need a plan to prevent the fear of “No”.  Remember, it’s the fear of “No” that does more damage than the actual rejection.

What happens to us when we hear “No”?

There is no denying it.  The rejection from NO hurts.  It takes all your energy to remain calm and think about how you should react.  You know in your heart you worked hard for this prospect.  You did a lot of research and made them much smarter about the industry than before they met you. 

At that pivotal moment, our natural tendency is to think it’s over and done.  AAfterall, we reason that no means no in this case.  And nobody wants to be that annoying/pushy salesperson who just persists and irritates farmers. 

What to do?

Fight that instinct with all your energy because it isn’t over.  Truth is, it’s never over.  As long as you are out there selling and this farmer is farming or agribusiness is in agribusiness, it’s not over.  It’s just “No for now”.

Program yourself to engage with several key questions.  The best way I know how to do that is to rehearse the most likely “No” scenarios. 

For example, you might say, “I understand you want to stay with company ABC.  I get it and I am not trying to change your mind but can I ask you a question?”

This prelude to your next set of questions should feel like a relief to your prospect.  They probably had a little anxiety when telling you “No”.  With this question, you took the high-pressure selling off the table.  Many times, this allows everyone to relax and just talk openly.

Now jump in with something like, “I really thought we had a good offer for you, but I must have missed something.  I’m curious, what was it about their offer that tipped your decision towards them?  The reason I ask is that I like to understand where we are a good fit and where we aren’t.”

That last part where I explain the reason why I’m asking is another tension reliever.  It’s telling the prospect that you want to know this for future situations and not necessarily right now in this situation.   

In these short exchanges, I have had all sorts of results.  There were several times when the prospect had a misunderstanding of what I had to offer.  Maybe they didn’t understand what they were getting from their current supplier.  This resulted in them cancelling their order with the competition and giving me an order.  However, most often, I was given a response that was very candid as to why I lost the sale.  This information gave me a chance to keep the conversation flowing and think through a way to come back for future orders.  Remember, if they considered switching once, they most likely will consider it again.  The answers you get to why this prospect didn’t buy from you are golden lessons for future sales calls.  You can apply this knowledge down the road when facing this same competitor on another farm. 

Stay in your selling mode and keep asking questions:  In the case of your current customer who decides to buy from your competitor, a key piece of information is the brand promise that your competitor made to get the sale.  Was it lower usage rates which produce higher yields?  Was it higher horsepower to get through tough jobs faster?  Dig deep into how your competition sold your customer.  You will need that information for the next phase of learning from “No” in order to get to a “Yes”.  The next phase is returning after a short period of time to follow up on how your previous customer is getting along with their new supplier.

Going back after “No”

You want to revisit your customer after they have had a chance to use the competitor’s product.  Did your competition live up to their brand promise?  If so, how well?  If not, how bad?

In sales, we’re always told we have to “Never take no for an answer.”  Going forward, I want you to see “No” from a different angle.  View it as an opportunity to learn and grow.  Don’t consider it a done deal.  Instead, dig a little deeper with good questions. 

This leads me to ask you, what did you learn from the last customer that told you “No”?  Or the last prospect that decided to stay with their current supplier?