What to say when your prospect says, "I'm not interested"

I'm pretty easy to get rid of too if the tone is more like haggling than just a non-thinking "I'm not interested". I can't count the number of sales I've made after that first initial response followed by my question "If you don't mind me asking ..." Similar to a "No Soliciting" sign. Probably 90-95% of the sales I've made the retailer had a "No Soliciting" sign on the door.

I also agree that trying to sell everyone you talk to is a complete waste of time energy (and serenity). My initial contact is to determine if I have a qualified prospect. If not - gone. I've extricated myself out of selling situations where they would've been happy to extend the visit but it wouldn't have mattered anyway once I know it's an unqualified prospect.

I agree completely and approach it the same way. However, there's times that the person on the other end has a certain personality that I like and will push a little further. I would say half of those people turn into a decent lead. For the most part though, if they say one of those things, they aren't worth the time.

You want to hear someone overcome "I'm not interested" objections, have a d&b rep give you a call. So annoying.

Thanks. Love it.

Of course, that's what advanced selling is all about., changing the dynamic from "Please buy from me" to "I'll have to see if this is a good fit, before I can take you on as a new client".

Even in my evil door to door vacuum cleaner sales days, my prospecting sequence was;

1) See if they are open to talking to me (the only part where they are deciding)
2) Deciding if the qualify enough for me to want to do a presentation.
3) Deciding if their first reactions warrant staying.
3) Decide if they are further qualified, for me to continue..
4) Decide how long I want to spend closing
5) Deciding if I want referrals from them.

At every point, I was deciding...once they let me in the door. And, during the entire process..some part of it was my deciding if this was a probable sale or not. It was only near the end, that I just concentrated on selling them.

But, I made it very easy to say no to me, until I decided that I was going for a sale.

And even my approach, before any part of the presentation emphasized that;
1) Most people that see my product ...buy.
2) Not everyone is accepted, if they decide to finance it. (This is when it wasn't as common to have a $10,000 credit card limit)

Something I used to say that just came to me;

If they had a dog (this was used for just about any condition they had, that applied to carpet or vacuums)

"You have a dog? You know, I wan't absolutely sure this was going to be a good fit for you...until I just now found out that you have a dog that sheds. Now, I'm kind of excited about what this is going to do your you"

The part of that statement that is important, is that they heard me say that ...possibly, I wouldn't have recommended my vacuum for them. And also, their specific situation, fits my offer....

It also hinted, that my opinion is the one that really matters here. Although, I don't say that outright.

Objection prevention is a good goal in a salespersons preparation, but in the real world they're still going to happen. They can be reduced through preparation, yes, but they will still be there.

What true salesperson hasn't had a prospect intitally say "I'm not interested" and then ended up having a good long term relationship with the prospect ( now a customer) because they made the effort to find out why the prospect isn't interested?

Someone can say "I'm not interested" because they just got some bad news, they found out their teenager just got in trouble, they're in a dispute with a supplier, the last salesperson left a bad taste in their mouth - anything. As a salesperson you don't know. The point is they're saying they're not interested in something you know they have no understanding of yet.

But if you have a product you believe in and you know it benefits businesses like theirs there's nothing wrong with simply asking a question to see whether or not there's a possibility of getting introduced, agreeing to a better time later, etc. As a salesperson with a product you believe in you at least want to give your prospect a chance to get past a knee jerk "I'm not interested" reaction before they turn down something that could help their business.

What they're genuinely not interested in is a pushy salesman trying to sell them something they don't need and don't want. I get that. And a professional salesperson doesn't want to sell them what they don't need or want either.

But if he has a product or service that can help Mr. or Ms. Businessperson reduce costs or increase revenue it doesn't harm anything to ask "If you don't mind me asking ..." to see if there's an opportunity to do business if not now possibly at a future date.

If there is still a lack of interest after a relevant, thought provoking question then the person is no longer a qualified prospect and you move on. You don't stick around and keep butting heads with them. Sometimes a "I know you're not interested now but would you be open to me sending you something and checking back with you in the future?" is a good outcome because it still leaves the door open for communication.

I think the key is motive. If a salesperson is selling a product or service they believe in they're trying to help the person they're approaching and, if now isn't a good time they at least want to keep the door open. If that's not ok then there's no longer any such thing as a salesperson - only order takers - and America is in decline because salespeople play a key role in a free enterprise system. (If a salesperson doesn't have a strong belief in their product they shouldn't be selling it. If they do believe in it there's nothing wrong with asking a probing question to get clarification.)

If they don't believe in what they're selling they're just tyring to take something that belongs to someone else (their money) to benefit themselves only and no one is interested in that.