For Your Reading Pleasure:

Caution: I’ve “got an axe to grind” towards the end, so put on your thick skin!

In many ways, sales have been my life since 1976, when I spent the summer between my junior and senior years selling new and used Volkswagens the year the Rabbit was introduced.  Since then, it’s been auto leasing, retail sales, newspaper ad sales, custom research, and now, as an independent contractor representing (selling!) several world-class solutions to help businesses grow or save.

It's not an exaggeration to say I’ve been told “no” (or ghosted!) 20,000 times.  Let that sink in…

Fortunately, there have been satisfying “yesses” along the way that more than offset those, er, occasional setbacks.

With that context, let me suggest multiple scenarios and preferred ways to say “No”, plus a rejection you should not use, sprinkled with several sales-related observations…

• If the timing is simply not right, try something like:

“Sammy, I'm definitely interested, but for a variety of reasons now is not a good time.  I’d very much appreciate it if you’d reach back out in _____ months.”

• If you genuinely don’t know if the solution is a good fit and need more information, be as specific as possible.  Perhaps:

“Sammy, I need to know more!  Will your solution integrate/support (or whatever the specific is) with our current CRM?  Historical adoption rates?  How long must we commit?”

• If there’s no budget or the price is prohibitive, let the potential partner know:

“Sorry, Sammy, but at that price, there’s no way I can make the investment.  My boss simply wouldn’t approve!”  Or “I’m struggling to see an appropriate ROI, so help me understand what I’m missing.”

[Yes, this opens the price discussion door, so be prepared IF Sammy responds with a more attractive price.  You should also know Sammy’s focus will be to establish a value-driven long-term relationship, not just sell a product or service at a low price!]

(By the way, IMHO, budgets should be a guideline, not an excuse!  Every organization must be flexible enough to react to market opportunities or capitalize upon new technologies when it makes sense – that means there WILL be times one must stray from their budget!)

• When there’s NO chance of a partnership (Competitor?  Pending acquisition?  Personal animus?  Whatever?) that’s worth communicating.  Examples to consider:

“I’m sorry, Sammy, but we chose one of your competitors. Their product better aligns with existing resources, so adoption should be better.  I very much appreciate your interest, time, efforts and wish you well.”

Or “Sorry, no.  All the relevant internal stakeholders discussed your offer/proposal and decided it does not make sense.  Why?  Because we…

…Just bought a product that offers similar solutions, and it would confuse our team.

…Despite your assurances, we simply do not think our sales reps (whatever) will embrace your solution.”

By the way, (IMPORTANT POINT) if leadership believes any tool/resource will help, they should not “hide behind” the sales (or content or accounting) team won’t use excuse.  Leaders need to LEAD.  Period.  That will occasionally mean introducing a new “resource” that will eventually become a godsend and be used every day!  Are you up to that?

[Under no circumstances, say “…we’re going in a different direction”, unless you explain what that direction is, so it helps guide Sammy’s future efforts.]

Finally, Do Not Ghost!  It demonstrates a profound lack of respect and courtesy. 

Well north of 99% of all industry partners simply want to help!

Think about it, what would you do without all the wonderful partners supporting your efforts?  Imagine if one day your request for more newsprint or a glitch in your ad order software or CMS went down and your PARTNER simply didn’t respond.  What if ALL your partners collectively chose to “go dark” and ghost you?  How would that impact operations?  Such lack of response is shameful and embarrassing – you (perhaps I should publish the list?) CAN and MUST do better!

Go Democracy – TOGETHER we can save it!