85% of the interactions between sales people and prospects end without the sales person ever asking for the sale. 85%!" -Retail News by Richard Fenton

I asked a number of unsuccessful and marginally successful sales people, "Why don't you aggressively ask for the sale?"

I received these top 3 replies:

• • "I don't sell by pushing the customer."
  • "In this market you cannot be over aggressive."
  • "The people here are different."

And then, after talking with them for a while I got the truth,

• "I do not like being rejected."

No one likes rejection. I don't know of any person who likes to hear the word "NO". It's OK, no it is a must to ask for the sale, because as Hockey player great Wayne Gretzky says, "You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take." It is easy to never have the customer say "NO" when asking for the sale.

But first let's get two well used practices out of the way, never to be heard of or used again.

1. The Ostrich, head in the sand salesperson says: When the customer says "NO"I do not hear them. I do not pay attention to them saying "NO." I ignore it, therefore they do not say it. Well you may not hear them saying "NO", but they are saying it. And they are hearing themselves saying "NO". And once they start saying "NO" they will continue saying "NO".
2. The Overcomer says: I know how to overcome hearing the word "NO". Although this self confindence is good, once the customer says "NO" the first time, it is easier for them to continue to say "NO" when you ask for the sale. And why waste valuable selling time trying to overcome a situation you do not have to create in the first place?Here it is. The 100% Guaranteed technique to never having the customer say or think "NO" when you are asking for the sale: It is all in the way you ask for the sale. Never give the customer the opportunity to say "NO". Ask Choice Questions!!!!!! When you say, "Do you want to buy this product in Blue?" The customer can say "NO". When you give them a choice, "Which color do you like best, red, blue, green or black?" You are not allowing them to say "NO". And if they do not like any of those colors they will most likely tell you the color they like or you can give them more color choices. Here is another great example: If you want a meeting with a customer and you say, "Can we meet Friday morning?" They can easily say "NO". But give them choices, "Which would be better for you, if we meet Thursday or Friday morning?" You will never have the customer say "NO". Again, if either one of those are satisfactory for them, continue to give them choices of other meeting days and times.

Recently I saw one of my clients double the order they received from their customer while taking an order simply by using the choice method I taught her. The customer normally reordered 5000 units of a particular item every 3 months. Instead of asking, "Do you want to reorder another 5000 units next month?", my client said, "Since your busier season is coming which would be better for you to reorder, 10,000 or 20,000 units?" Another principle came into play here. The principle of the easy way out. When given a choice customers will most always take the easiest choice. In this case the 10,000 was an easier choice than 20,000. Give your customers choices. You will never hear the sales stopping word "NO" and your sales and profits will increase.