How Many Nos Have you Heard Today?
My guess is not enough. We all know that not everyone is going to buy from us. Even if you have an 80% close ratio, 20% of the people you asked to buy said no. Most of us have a close ratio much lower than 80%. Do you know what yours is? It’s a good number to know. It’s also important to know how many prospects you need to put in the top of your sales funnel to get one closed deal out the bottom. Let’s say you typically have to talk to 10 prospects to find 4 who are interested and of those 4 usually one buys. If the product you sell is $100,000 and you close one a month that ratio might work out fine. But if your quota is $100,000 a month and each sale is only $5,000, closing one a month will not do! You are going to have to hear a lot more no’s.
No is a Good Answer
When you are selling, no is a good answer. Not for you to say to your prospects, but for them to say to you. The more no’s, the quicker you get to yes. It means you are prospecting and qualifying enough people to hit your sales goals. No doesn’t mean never, it means not now. I can put them on a list for future follow up. I’d rather have a no so I can move on to the next prospect that have no answer and waste time trying to reach someone who is not interested and avoiding me. Think of it this way, NO = Next Opportunity.
Prospecting is still somewhat of a numbers game. If you have a pool of 100 people who can buy from you, only a small percentage will be ready to buy at any given time. So if you asked all 100 for a meeting, you could expect somewhere between 10 and 50 of them to say yes. That means 90 to 50 of them said no. You can’t get to the yeses without hearing the no’s.
More Nos, Please
What will you do to get more nos? It probably will start with more prospecting and scheduling more calls or meetings. You may decide you need a better set of qualifying questions so you can find out more quickly if there is a need. You may be one of those people who can find a million other things to interrupt your selling time and find you need a coach or accountability partner. Whatever it takes, make a plan to get more nos.
How many no’s will you hear today from your prospects? Let me know by commenting below. If you need help getting more no’s, call me 775-852-5020.
Alice is nationally known for her expertise in elevating sales to increase valuation for companies with a B2B complex sale that have exceptional growth potential. She’s originally, from the widely known Miller Heiman Group. Spending her time strategizing with CEOs and their leadership teams to build the strategies that find new business and grow existing accounts is her passion. Her clients love her spirit and the way she energizes their sales organization.
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