Strategies on how to ignore the word NO in Selling

Zig Ziglar had identified five hindrance in selling, while Dan Kennedy identified some strategies to ignore hindrance of selling. Here it is;

Since I've been involved in training salesperson and working with sales executives struggling to get productivity from salespeople, I've discovered that the number one reason for failure in selling is ego. The person with an inflated ego or with very fragile self-esteem perceives refusal as rejection. When someone says no to such a person, he or she takes it personally.

  But confusing refusal with rejection makes selling painful because more people say no than ever say yes. In my situation costumers were calling me vile names, threatening me, even throwing things at me. I had to remember that it really had nothing to do with me. These people weren't mad at me; they were mad at the previous rep, at the company, or at the situation-but not at me.

  I've since learned that just about any time an individual disagrees with me, fails to accept an offer I present, says no to me, or otherwise interferes with my access to what I want, it very rarely has anything to do with me a person. And because it isn't personal, it doesn't warrant any kind of an emotional reaction. Having control over your emotions gives you very powerful advantage in selling.

   As I approached these hostile costumers, I took my emotions out of the situation. No matter what they said, I interpreted it as reasonable, justifiable anger at other people and at a negative situation. I listened. I was patient. I was concerned. And I never got angry. I never got defensive. Finally, when the costumer had vented and had nothing more to say, I asked for permission to respond. I stated the obvious: I had no control over the past. I could only exercise control over the present. My job now was to make handling the merchandise so profitable and pleasurable for the merchant that it made up for all the past problems and justified a renewed relationship. Then I shifted right into selling-just as if the costumer was new and had never heard of the company, the books, or me. 

   It worked. but even while it was working, many of the costumers questioned my integrity. They wanted to whether or not I was telling the truth. They asked whether I would keep my promises concerning service. They were skeptical and suspicious. If I had wanted to be thin-skinned, I could have gotten angry with them. How dare they question my honesty?

  Again, I had to understand that this, too, was nothing personal. I chose to work for a company that had "done them by wrong" once. I had to accept the consequences, including guilt by association. Again, I had to set my ego aside.

  With this approach, I saved twice as many accounts as I lost. I even returned to that first drugstore who denied me and got the merchandise back in. I had discovered that initial refusal, even antagonism, was not necessarily the ultimate result. I discovered that I could change a no to yes more often than not.

  My favorite illustration of all this comes from my first call on the head buyer for the book departments of a major department store chain. I went with one of the company's experienced sales-people, as an apprentice, to watch and learn. I was to carry the samples and keep my mouth shut.

  Keeping quiet was no problem; I sat in stunned silence as the other sales rep presented the buyer with one new tittle after another. As he looked at each book, the buyer keep saying: "This is crap. Do you know that? Why should I have this crap in my store? How can you show me this crap?" The buyer went on and on like that, and the sales rep did not say any word! Finally, the buyer picked up one sample after the other and barked: "Ship me ten dozen" or "ship me 50." This went on for nearly an hour, and the sales rep rarely spoke. The buyer criticized and cussed each sample, then ordered. When it was over, the rep had written an order for close to $10,000.00- a very, very big order in that business. He and the buyer shook hands, exchanged pleasantries, and we left. I couldn't believe what I had witnessed.

  The sales rep said, "You know, he always does that. The first few times I went there, years ago, I got mad at him. I got defensive. I argued with him. Finally he took pity on me. He asked me a great question: "What do you care what I think of this stuff or say about this stuff as long as I buy a lot of it and my stores sell a lot of it and you make a lot of money?"

It is not quite easy to learn and implement this strategy to ignore NO in Selling, but to pursue our goal, we need to overcome every hindrance that comes and arrives. Selling is a great venture, enjoy it.

"Forgive and forget. I had to take my ego out of my way."