The word "NO"
Ultra-performing servant sellers have become comfortable with a word that most of us are not.
That word is: “No.”
To a servant seller, “No” isn’t necessarily good but it’s also not really bad.
“No” certainly isn’t as bad as “maybe.”
“Maybe” is what prospects tell us when they are too afraid to tell us “No.”
And “Maybe” is what we salespeople accept because we are too afraid to hear a “No.”
“Maybe” kills your business. “Maybe” steals your time and drains your energy as you get caught up in an impossible game of cat and mouse.
But “No” is something we can live with.
“No” just means next.
“No” means we have closure.
“No” means we can move on.
“No” is freeing.
Ultra-Producing Servant Sellers are not afraid of hearing “No.”
And they know that allowing their prospects to live with “Maybe” is a disservice. Because it is enabling the person you’re serving to move on without resolution.
Indeed, the first art of hearing “No” is realizing that while “No” is not as good as “Yes”, it is certainly better than “Maybe.”
Servant Sellers are also aware of the matter of fact reality that not everyone will buy from them.
And, so at some point in their career they have an important realization…
Which is that if you are inevitably going to hear “No” from time to time, then you might as well learn to flush out the “No’s” as fast as possible.
The second part of the art of hearing “No” is realizing that a fast “No” is always better than a slow “No.”
Being willing and unafraid to hear “No” does not make you a weak salesperson.
Quite the contrary.
A skilled salesperson has a variety of questions to use and an uncanny ability to read people. When a skilled salesperson sees that a prospect isn’t really interested, rather than trying to talk them into something they don’t want, they instead extend a graceful invitation for the prospect to say “No” quickly.
Becoming a servant seller is a realization of abundance. And it’s a choice to value your time enough to stop chasing the “maybes” because you know there are plenty of “yeses” out there waiting for you.
You thought that being better in sales was all about being better at getting “yes.”
But perhaps your next level of growth has much more to do with your comfort level and your ability to hear the word “No.”