No, Means, No; in Sales Too!

“A bend in the road isn’t the end of the road unless you fail to make the turn.” Helen Keller

 Rejection and adversity are commonplace in sales. We get knocked down and we get up again. Again, and again, and again. Most people in sales will hear “no” more than “yes.” You will be stood up and ignored, it’s true, but behind each closed door is a priceless lesson—the sales greats are those that take the time to pause, reflect, and actually absorb and apply those lessons.

When we are faced with a difficult situation, we show our true colors. Those who respond to difficulty with resilience are well suited for a career in sales. Responding with resilience is a characteristic you can build up over time with practice. The key is to master your mindset.

 To perfect the art of sales is to channel the art of resilience. In this article I will share strategies to overcome adversity, avoid focusing on closing, and dissect every deal in such a way that it will help win future deals.

Overcoming Adversity

“While salespeople will find success when they lead with empathy, they’ll find greater success when they respond with resilience.”

GARY GALVIN | CEO OF GALVIN TECHNOLOGIES

 Since the sales world knocks us down repeatedly, those who succeed are resilient. Fortunately, our mindset has a great deal of power over how we react to adversity. The important thing is to remember that rejection does not mean you are worthless. Failure always hurts, but it is not permanent. The key to resilience is considering every loss an opportunity to learn and grow. 

 Next time something doesn’t go your way, ask yourself these questions to reset your mindset:

 1.  What can I learn from this loss/failure/negative experience?

2.  What can I do differently next time?

 In addition to taking failure as an opportunity to learn, it’s also important to remain calm and take responsibility for the role you played in the failure. This requires patience, self-awareness, and confidence, and it may be something you need to work toward over time. 

Another great way to become more resilient is to spend time around resilient people. Jim Rohn famously said, “we are the average of the five people we spend the most time with.” So, to succeed in sales, surround yourself with people who inspire you. They will give you courage, patience, perspective, and confidence to consider every negative experience an opportunity to learn.

Take “No” for an Answer

 “No” is not a word we like to hear often. Whether we are asking someone out to dinner or pitching a deal, “No” is not the answer we want to hear in our personal lives or professional lives.

 Unfortunately, an anti-no culture has become so prevalent in sales and the primary focus of countless sales training programs. In fact—one of the basic belief systems in selling is, “Don’t take ‘no’ for an answer.” Now ask yourself, honestly—how do you feel when you say “no” to someone who will not take “no” for an answer? No one wants to be strong-armed into something they do not want or need. Not taking “no” for an answer is not a basis for effective selling.

 Yet at this moment, a sales training class somewhere in the world is teaching sales professionals to never take “no” for an answer. There is a smooth, well-polished instructor in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, or Bangalore, India responding to possible objections with creative ways to keep the decision process alive. 

 This is not new; this is how the art of sales has been taught for many years. “Great sales professionals never take ‘no’ for an answer,” the books say. They outline tactics for handling objections, reframing questions, changing the subject, presumptive closes, and so on ad infinitum.

Successful sales leaders like Andrew Fritts, SVP Global Sales at N3 have been doing this right for years. Andrew likes the word “no.” Why? He views it as an opportunity to learn what a client really wants, and in most cases, what they need to be successful.  It’s one of the reasons he has personally sold over $150M in SaaS and services over his career.   

Andrew was originally trained in product marketing. His strategic approach to his sales career evolved over time, but it was always rooted in knowing the client’s needs and tailoring the partnership models accordingly. He learned quickly that there is value in hearing “no” early. “No” gave him the opportunity to pivot and re-tailor the solution he provided to the specific relationship’s needs. Or, it gave him the opportunity to thank prospects for their time and sharpen his persona targeting going forward. In many cases, prospects were so grateful for his “non-salesy approach” that they were more flexible themselves.  

The fact that not trying to force the client to accept a different reality is viewed as “non-salesy” is the core problem. The market believes that salespeople are out to convince them of things with which they disagree. When salespeople like Andrew change the language and tone of the conversation, prospects are pleasantly surprised by the level of authenticity, so much so that they go out of their way to find ways to work with him. 

Let’s be clear: the implicit objective in such approaches to selling—which is to say, most selling as usually taught—is to get the customer to do what the seller wants, even if it is not what the customer wants. That is not Andrew’s approach.  

If you operate from the belief system that the object of selling is to get the customer to do what the seller wants, even if it is not what the customer wants, you are setting yourself up for disappointment. If you hold an inner belief that a salesperson is “justified” and “deserving” of a sale, you are destined to feel resentment and anger when it doesn’t happen.

 As humans, we all feel disappointment at a lost sale. As evolved sales professionals, we don’t let it turn to anger and resentment. We need a sales ethos that argues the same thing. We need a system of selling in which the objective of selling is to get the customer what the customer wants. 

 So, if a good salesperson is not someone who can turn a “no” into a “yes”—then what is a good salesperson? It is very simple: a good salesperson is one that knows early on when a “no” is a “no,” and focuses his or her efforts on the leads that promise a potential “yes.”

It turns out “no” is not such a terrible word. It teaches us a great deal. Accepting “no” can help train us to become the type of salesperson we want to be: a salesperson with integrity, honesty, and truly productive relationships with clients. 

 Accepting “no” over the course of a career also allows us to hit our full revenue production potential because it frees up more room for clients who are better fits. 

So, try accepting a “no” and see if it gets you a few more shots at “yes” down the road.