March 18, 2014 at 16:134 Ways to Turn No to Yes
- Transfer
When you build your business, you will hear “no” countless times. How you behave after this answer will fully determine your success.
In the early stages of building a business there will be a huge number of situations when you ask for something, but they say “no” to you. For most people, this answer is the end of the conversation.
According to the seller the legendary Tom Hopkins ( Tom Hopkins ), who co-authored an experienced Sales Katta Ben ( Ben Katt ) recently wrote the book " When the buyers say no," "no," you can discover the many possibilities. Here is what he told me:
Most people will say no to a new idea. In fact, recent studies show that the average buyer says “no” about 5 times before saying “yes”. This is due to the fact that the selection process is emotional, not intellectual.
Most people are primarily focused on avoiding negativity rather than achieving positive results, so if we ask a person to make a decision, he will first of all begin to look for reasons not to accept it. Typically, the answer takes the form of “no,” although it actually means “maybe.”
Suppose you ask the “right” person (that is, the one who must say yes) - in such cases, the answer “no” usually means:
The old adage “never take no for an answer” is often mistakenly understood as “keep bothering the buyer until he says yes.” This will not help; in fact, it will only strengthen the no. For example:
[ VC - venture entrepreneur - approx. trans .]
You: “Can you provide initial financing of $ 2 million?”
VC: “No.”
You: “Are you sure? This is not a very large amount. ”
VC:“ Yes, I'm sure (that is, “no”)
You: “Okay, maybe $ 1 million?
VC: “All the best.”
For comparison, if you are curious enough and ask why you got the answer “no,” you can continue the conversation and understand what needs to be done to get the answer “yes”, for example like this:
You: “Can you provide initial financing of $ 2 million?”
VC: “No.”
You: “However, if I understand you correctly, you want to invest in a project of this type. What exactly in my plans doesn’t suit you? ”
Depending on what you learned (as a result of the curiosity shown in the previous paragraph), conduct a dialogue so that it gradually opens up the possibility of a positive answer. For example, in the dialog above, for your question, you could receive one of three types of answers:
Invalid information . In this case, you will roll back in the conversation and clear up all the misunderstandings.
VC: “I don’t understand how you are going to monetize the project.”
You: “I apologize for not explaining this well enough. Let’s go through this part again and I’ll try to tell you more. ”
Wrong timing . In this case, it is necessary to focus the conversation on arranging a new meeting to discuss this issue.
VC: “I have to think about this for a while.”
You: “I understand. What areas of uncertainty should we clarify before we meet again? ”
Unfortunate circumstances . In this case, you must be creative in order to overcome the barrier.
VC: “We have already invested in competitors.”
You: “Maybe we should think about a merger. What can you tell me about them? ”
It makes no sense to say that there are many more ways to turn“ no ”into“ yes ”(if you are interested, you can buy Tom's book when it comes out), but the examples above show the main moments that you will encounter in many business situations.
“No” means “yes” is possible
Most people will say no to a new idea. In fact, recent studies show that the average buyer says “no” about 5 times before saying “yes”. This is due to the fact that the selection process is emotional, not intellectual.
Most people are primarily focused on avoiding negativity rather than achieving positive results, so if we ask a person to make a decision, he will first of all begin to look for reasons not to accept it. Typically, the answer takes the form of “no,” although it actually means “maybe.”
There are three related types of “no”
Suppose you ask the “right” person (that is, the one who must say yes) - in such cases, the answer “no” usually means:
- Invalid information . You have not explained well enough why “yes” is the right decision. Therefore, you should be able to better convey your thoughts to the interlocutor.
- Wrong timing . A person needs time to ponder a decision, so he often says “no” to get a break and reflect. Therefore, you should be patient and ask again later.
- Unsuccessful circumstances . There is something from above, something that a person does not control and that prevents him from saying “yes”. Therefore, you must communicate more with him in order to rid him of the barrier.
Be curious, not persistent
The old adage “never take no for an answer” is often mistakenly understood as “keep bothering the buyer until he says yes.” This will not help; in fact, it will only strengthen the no. For example:
[ VC - venture entrepreneur - approx. trans .]
You: “Can you provide initial financing of $ 2 million?”
VC: “No.”
You: “Are you sure? This is not a very large amount. ”
VC:“ Yes, I'm sure (that is, “no”)
You: “Okay, maybe $ 1 million?
VC: “All the best.”
For comparison, if you are curious enough and ask why you got the answer “no,” you can continue the conversation and understand what needs to be done to get the answer “yes”, for example like this:
You: “Can you provide initial financing of $ 2 million?”
VC: “No.”
You: “However, if I understand you correctly, you want to invest in a project of this type. What exactly in my plans doesn’t suit you? ”
Develop dialogue
Depending on what you learned (as a result of the curiosity shown in the previous paragraph), conduct a dialogue so that it gradually opens up the possibility of a positive answer. For example, in the dialog above, for your question, you could receive one of three types of answers:
Invalid information . In this case, you will roll back in the conversation and clear up all the misunderstandings.
VC: “I don’t understand how you are going to monetize the project.”
You: “I apologize for not explaining this well enough. Let’s go through this part again and I’ll try to tell you more. ”
Wrong timing . In this case, it is necessary to focus the conversation on arranging a new meeting to discuss this issue.
VC: “I have to think about this for a while.”
You: “I understand. What areas of uncertainty should we clarify before we meet again? ”
Unfortunate circumstances . In this case, you must be creative in order to overcome the barrier.
VC: “We have already invested in competitors.”
You: “Maybe we should think about a merger. What can you tell me about them? ”
It makes no sense to say that there are many more ways to turn“ no ”into“ yes ”(if you are interested, you can buy Tom's book when it comes out), but the examples above show the main moments that you will encounter in many business situations.