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Special Reports
Lead Generation: Bringing
in Business
There May Be Times to Take No for an Answer
MINNEAPOLIS -- Salespeople are taught not to take no for an answer, primarily
because if they get any other answer but yes they have failed.
The most debilitating myth taught is "a good salesperson can sell anything
to anybody." But said sales consultant and author Jeff Thull, those pursuing a complex sale should be taking
the opposite approach and instead "go for the no."
Mr. Thull is the chief executive and president of Prime Resource Group.
The traditional "go for the yes" approach has the salesperson engage
a qualified prospect and relentlessly present, pursue, persist, cajole, convince and persuade until the prospect
said yes.
Mr. Thull, the author of "Mastering The Complex Sale: How to Compete and
Win When The Stakes Are High!" said, "Selling has become such a complex process that if you don't consider
'no sale' as a valid outcome and 'go for the no' right away you could end up wasting valuable time, company resources
and delaying access to more lucrative opportunities.
"Real professionals recognize that a no - after a quality diagnosis, that
is - wins the potential customer's respect, leaves the door wide open for future business and frees you up to pursue
a better match."
He is the advocate of a system called Diagnostic Business Development or "the
Prime Process."
The four phases of this system are:
- Discover: The sales professional researches and prepares and sets the stage for
a compelling engagement and a continuing relationship based on trust and respect.
- Diagnose: An in-depth determination of the existence, extent and financial impact
of the customer's current situation is pursued. Diagnosis is meant to maximize the customer's objective awareness
of their dissatisfaction and determine whether or not that dissatisfaction supports the salesperson's offerings.
- Design: The goal is to get the sales professional and customer working together
to identify the optimal solution to the problems that were uncovered and quantified in the diagnose phase - even
if it involves alternative solutions offered by competitors. This phase is the "dress rehearsal" before
the final presentation is made. It is here that many salespeople make the mistake of becoming an unpaid consultant.
- Deliver: This phase begins with the presentation of a formal proposal and the
customer's subsequent formal acceptance of the solution. Implementation and support of the solution are next, followed
by maintaining and growing of the relationship with the customer.
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