For most people, asking for the sale is the scariest, most uncomfortable part of the sales transaction. You get a nervous feeling in the pit of your stomach, you may even avoid it altogether…what if the customer says ‘NO” – Guess what – it’s not the end of the world. In fact, when a customer objects you should think of it as a gift. Really! Quite often it means the customer doesn’t have all the information they need to feel comfortable saying yes.

There are circumstances in life where no means no! Thankfully for us, on the sales floor is not one of those situations. If we want to become the best at what we do we must train ourselves to not take a perceived rejection personally, put your wounded ego aside, and more importantly figure out exactly what our customer is asking us for.

Your customer has gone to the trouble of getting themselves to your establishment and seeking you out. Trust me; they came in because they WANT to buy! If what you are offering fits their needs, they’ll take it. Occasionally, no means not today, but more often it means that the customer doesn’t have enough information or the right information. We are around our products and services all the time and it is easy to forget that customers frequently do not have the same depth of understanding about them that we do. We’ve come to take our knowledge for granted. This can be especially true when working with technology.

When a customer tells you ‘no’, they’ll be ready to go on the defensive. It is imperative that you diffuse them by acknowledging the ‘no’ and saying the magic word ‘OK’ – and mean it. Now your job is to get over your discomfort, let them know you are curious and gently ask the customer why they thing what you’re offering isn’t right for them at this time. Ask your customer what it is they are looking for in a product or service then see if you can match each of your client’s needs with something that you do have to offer. Keep the mood light and conversational but don’t stop until all of the customers doubts have been wiped off of their mental blackboard. Hmm… Funny how now it looks like a good match after all.