Chapter 11

Handling Early Resistance on Your Smart Calls

Reality check: Even if you do everything I’ve suggested so far, point-by-point perfectly, you will still get people who respond with some variation of “I’m not interested” or “We’re happy with what we’re doing.”

Expect it. Don’t be deterred by it. And prepare for it. That’s what we’ll do in this chapter.

Resistance after hearing an opening statement from an unknown caller is a natural, conditioned reaction for many people. And it usually works in attempts to blow sales reps off the phone. Except you, of course, because you’ll have some conversational ways to get the prospect talking, which really is the key to keeping the call alive and creating an opportunity.

I have a name for these kinds of inherent reactions that sales calls tend to elicit from prospects: Resistant Reflex Responses (RRRs). They simply are a natural reflex for many people, like ducking if an object is flying at your head. It’s instinctive. Not much thought goes into them; they just happen.

Trying to counter them with logic is tough, since, well—what would you be arguing against? We haven’t heard anything of substance yet, other than the response. And you don’t want to use a goofy retort that some sales books suggest: “Well, of course you aren’t interested—I haven’t given you anything to be interested in yet!” Give me a break.

So what should you do? Get them talking—which moves their mind away from their reflexive response and on to something of substance.

Use a Pattern Interrupt

A model of communication called neurolinguistic programming that was popularized by many self-help gurus (most notably Tony Robbins) over the past 20 years espouses a theory and technique called a pattern interrupt. Without causing your eyes to glaze over in boredom, let me simplify it for our purposes: When people do or say something automatically, it’s called a pattern. If you do something that stops that pattern and gets them talking or thinking about something else, then that is a pattern interrupt. In what city were you born?

That last question was a pattern interrupt. You were reading along, and I interrupted you with a question that probably caused you to think about the answer (or wonder if I had gone off the deep end). Either way, using a pattern interrupt when you hear a Resistant Reflex Response causes someone to answer a question. For example:

Prospect:“I’m not interested.”

Sales rep:“I see. Where are you now getting your compressors?”

Here’s another:

Prospect:“We’re all set.”

Sales rep:“I understand. When is your next project coming up?”

One more

Prospect:“We wouldn’t need that.”

Sales rep:“Oh. How are you now handling written-off receivables?”

This is not difficult to execute. You simply need to anticipate the RRRs you are likely to hear, or if you have placed calls for more than a day, you already know which ones you hear. Then you prepare your response.

Your tone plays a vital role in determining the success of your reply. Use a soft, almost surprised—maybe even disappointed—tone of voice. By no means do you want to seem confrontational. We want them to open up and drop their shield—not feel threatened.

You might think that you’re likely to hear something like “Look, what part of ‘I’m not interested’ do you not understand?” after your response, and you would be right. This certainly won’t work every time; nothing does. However, you may at least be able to salvage some opportunities that you would not have gotten otherwise—possible sales you can cash in on either now or in the future. Your return on your minuscule time investment is huge, and you have nothing to lose.

The Softening Statement

You might have noticed that before asking the question in each of the examples, I used a few words such as “Oh,” “I see,” and “I understand” to diffuse tension and soften the question. I suggest you do the same. Fellow sales trainer and founder of the prospecting system Unlock the Game Ari Galper suggests a great softening statement: “That’s not a problem.” Then he recommends diffusing the tension with something like “I’m not trying to replace your current vendor. Would you be open to some different ideas that you might not be using now?”

It’s So Simple Even a Fourth-Grader Can Do It

I attended a fund-raising dinner as part of a celebrity golf tournament for Arizona youth baseball. Got to meet a few Hall of Fame Major League baseball players—very cool.

During the dinner, kids were working the crowd selling raffle tickets. I had already purchased five $20 tickets earlier at the door, and a fourth grader (as I later found out) approached our table and very confidently asked, “Would you like to buy some raffle tickets?”

I smiled and told her I already had bought mine. I was impressed that these kids were approaching adults and asking for money (although I’m sure they do it to their parents all the time), so I tried to be as gentle as possible in saying no: “Oh, no thanks. I already bought some.”

She looked at me with these beautiful blue eyes, smiled, and in a soft tone replied:

“That’s okay.”

I didn’t know what to say. She totally disarmed me.

“You didn’t get any from me yet.”

I had nothing! Brilliant! Of course I had to buy more. That’s a great example of someone not being deterred by an initial no, and in fact being prepared for it, and then asking again.

I actually had no good reason for not buying another one—it was a fund-raising event, after all.

Here’s the One Place Where Sounding Dumb Works

After your opening you might hear some resistance with reasoning that just doesn’t make sense. So react accordingly. Act confused. For example:

Prospect:“Yeah, I’ve heard of you guys before. It just wouldn’t be right for us.”

Sales rep:“I’m not following. Could you explain?”

We want them to continue talking, since the more they say, the less their initial resistance will make sense—and the more you will have to work with. Other examples include:

Responding When They Are Happy with Their Present Supplier

Here are a few suggestions from sales reps and managers on how to handle variations of “We’re happy with our present supplier,” when heard at the beginning of a prospecting call.

Sales manager Ben Hyman has his reps say,

“That’s fine, Mr. Prospect; we realize that you’re most likely satisfied at the current time. We would still like to keep in touch as we provide information and education to those companies that are a good fit for our technology. We are producing some webinars and white papers on the newest supply chain solutions—would you like to receive them?”

If they say yes, we then say,

“Great! May I ask you just a few questions so that when we send you information, it will be tailored to your organization?”

Ben says that this often results in receiving numerous calls from companies wanting to receive more info and several that want to look at his offerings because they are not satisfied with their current provider.

Sales pro Evonne Weinhaus suggests saying,

“Teach me if you would, what kind of (service, product, things) would it take for you to feel better than satisfied?”

If they have trouble answering the question at first, that is okay. You can restate your point and use different words. Just make sure you recognize what you are accomplishing by asking this one simple question:

• You put the notion of “I’m satisfied” in a totally new framework. It is now positioned as second best, without you trying to prove that point.
• By using the phase, “teach me,” you switch the balance of power. They are in the driver’s seat teaching you, and you are learning from them.

Rick Kendall, a sales rep with Branom Instrument Company, says that he requests a chance to quote his comparative product anyway—just to make sure that prospects are getting the most value for their money. They very rarely refuse a quote. He then gets into the call where he would not have otherwise, and quite often he wins a sale since his quotes are very competitive.

Inside sales rep Jeff Wirsing responds, “That’s fine, Mr. Client. In the event that something changes with your current service/supplier, would it be all right if I stay in touch?” Then he questions what would need to change, placing him into a sales conversation.

Michael Bechtel, of D&H Distributing, said,

“In my industry, there tends to be a lot of shortages, especially in the newest of the products. I like to find something that the prospect uses that I know is hard to find—say, a hot new video card, for example—and then ask if he ever has problems getting that item. When he says yes, I mention that if nothing else, I would love to be his second source. After all, who wants to rely on one person only for their products during an allocations period? I like to always start off with the second source method; it sounds like you aren’t trying to break up their current relationships with other vendors.”

Jared Olson, a sales pro with General Service Bureau Inc., says,

“When someone tells me they are ‘happy with their present set-up,’ I respect that answer and simply follow up with ‘How often or when will you next evaluate the present set-up?’ Depending on the answer I receive, I will follow up with ‘Under what circumstances would you consider switching your present set-up?’ (Which I believe was in your books.) If they open up and questioning can continue, I do so. However, I can usually get at least those two questions answered—which helps me figure out when I should call back again. I deal primarily with CFOs, so I want to be respectful of their answer when they tell me that they’re currently happy.”

How to Answer “Send Me Some Literature on That”

If this statement occurs later in the call, it might be a legitimate request—and indeed be worth your while to send information. (I have an entire article on this topic that helps you determine when it is worthwhile. To access the information free, go to www.BusinessByPhone.com/literature.htm.) However, when the literature request occurs early in a call, it often is an attempt at a brush-off. You want to try to move to the questioning. Reply with “I’ll be happy to provide you with some information. So that I can tailor it for your situation I’d like to ask a few questions.”

“Why Should I Consider You?”

Here’s a trap that prospects sometimes set and sales reps walk right into. After the opening, the prospect says something like “Why should I use your company?” The wrong answer is to actually name your reasons, which simply provides them with more reasons to get you off the phone. Instead, you want to move to the questioning. Here are possible responses:

Responding When They Try to Rush You

You might sometimes hear something like “Okay, you’ve got two minutes.” Here are three suggestions:

Simple Response to a Quick “Not Interested”

Here’s a simple, effective way to reply to an immediate “Not interested”: “Does that mean never, or just not now?” This often keeps the conversation and the door open with prospects who admit that situations could change.

Handling the Early Price Question

Once you’ve given your opening statement, the response you might hear is “What does it cost?”

You do not want to involve yourself in a price discussion before you’ve asked any questions, identified needs, and identified the specific value you could deliver. Therefore, you want to defer answering, while giving them some satisfaction. For example:

“It depends on several variables. Let me ask you a few questions so I can quote you the best price for your situation.”

If they insist, “Just give me the price,” you could try

“Well, it could be as low as $_____, or up to $_____. Let’s take a look at your situation.”

Or

“I imagine you want the best price, right? To determine that, we’ll need to take a look at your situation.”

Early Resistance Case Study

Question

Art, I work at a company that sells its own line of safety glasses. I recently had called on a big industrial supply catalog company with the objective of getting our products into their catalog. The response I immediately received—and commonly get from companies with catalogs like that—was “At this time, we are not looking for additional safety eyewear suppliers.” How would you personally handle this kind of response? Or how would you set yourself up for future contact with this company? Would you send a follow-up letter to them?

—Thanks for any helpful insight, Gary Gabrielse, Global Vision Eyewear

Answer

Gary, most buyers are not actively looking for something different from what they have. Therefore, your strategy should be asking questions like:

• “For future reference, what is the process for evaluating new products?”
• “Who is involved”? (This is important since it’s probably not just one person.)
• “What are the decision-making criteria?”
• “How did they choose what they use now?”
• “Under what circumstances might they look at something new?”
• When and if they do evaluate something else, can we be involved?

And, yes, with a company the size of the one you mentioned (name omitted here), I would have a stay-in-touch strategy where you make certain you stay in contact with them through e-mail, fax, letter, and newsletters. You want to be sure your name is at the forefront when and if they do decide to do something.

Gary’s Results after Using the Questions

Art, I wanted to thank you for e-mailing me those sales questions you would ask in regard to large accounts. I was facing an important prospect—the largest safety products company in the world, with operations in 25 countries and sales in the billions—and I asked the buyer the questions that you had sent me. He took the time to give me very detailed replies and even invited me to their corporate offices to meet with him in person!

Smart Calling Action Step

What will you commit to do as a result of this chapter?