ANOTHER WORD ABOUT FEAR
The thought of making follow-up calls may be even more paralyzing than cold calling. After all, this is someone you already believe needs your services. Maybe you’ve already talked or sent information. You’ve invested some time or made a personal connection, so now if you hear no, the rejection really feels personal.
What you have to remember is that rejection is not about you. This is a business transaction. Your prospects are deciding whether and how to spend their time and money. They are choosing to work on achieving their goals and fixing their problems, or not. They are choosing to hire a qualified person who truly cares whether they get what they want and need (that’s you), or not. They are choosing to spend their limited resources on the priorities you can help them with, or on something else. These choices are about them, not about you.
The factors that go into your prospects’ decision making are innumerable. And frequently, what you are told about why prospects don’t want to go forward isn’t the full story. Here are some actual reasons that people with a strong need for the service being offered have decided not to buy or have bought from a competitor.
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What you were told … |
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What’s really going on … |
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It’s too expensive. |
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I decided to take a Hawaiian vacation instead. |
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We don’t think you’re right for the job. |
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We got a competing bid from my cousin’s boyfriend. |
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I changed my mind. |
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I’m getting a divorce and can’t think about anything else now. |
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We have other priorities right now. |
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The company is going bankrupt. |
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I can’t afford it. |
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I don’t want to take money out of a mutual fund to pay for it. |
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We’re not ready to make a change. |
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My boss doesn’t want headquarters to know there’s a problem. |
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We found someone more qualified. |
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We liked the competitor’s tag line. |
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Don’t call us; we’ll call you. |
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The project was tabled until next year. |
When a prospect tells you a competitor was chosen because he or she “has more experience,” the message is that the company hires only people with strong experience in its own industry. This is not about you. If you are told the competition “came well recommended,” the prospect is choosing to do business with the friend of a friend. It’s not about you. When you hear that the other guy’s bid was lower, it means the buyer values price over quality. Also, not about you.
The real secret to vanquishing fear of follow-up is to have so many prospects in the pipeline that any one “no” becomes much less important.