Sales Tip: How to Say “No” to a Prospect

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4 responses to “Sales Tip: How to Say “No” to a Prospect”

  1. Good morning Colleen,

    I hope all is well.
    Great suggestion on how to say no to a potential client. If I could take this one step further..
    In addition to saying “what your looking for is not in our sweet spot” or perhaps ” we are concerned about not being able to service you” – I have made it a practice of suggesting to that person, other people to call who might be in a better position to accommodate their needs. Not necessarily sending business to a competitor but a making a referral – in some cases giving them a name and contact information.

    Any time I have done this for a potential client that I have been unable to service, they are truly appreciative and will remember you down the road. In some cases reaching out to me when they have moved to another company and or the situation has changed and I am in a position to service them.

    Cheers
    Phil

  2. I’ve noticed often letting them know you’re not the right fit changes what they think they want to do and it opens up conversation to discuss their requirements further. Other times, it is not the right fit and you save both parties time.

    One example, we had a very large account come to us with a RFP that was very long and included things that really should be broken out into five software solutions. They wanted to know what we would charge to create what they were asking for. We don’t do custom work and we knew that we only filled about 1/3 of the requirements so I nicely let them know we would not be responding to the RFP. This was about 3 years ago. Now they are back, asking us to fill the portion of what they need with our solution. They probably received similar feedback from other solutions and there wasn’t a solution that did everything they were looking for.

    It does work out …

  3. It’s always best to walk away if you are not the right fit. Doing so increases trust with the prospect and paves the way for future business and it also ensures you don’t create an upset customer in the future if they buy a product that doesn’t work for them! great job and thanks for sharing.

  4. Dear Colleen,

    I appreciate the way you explained it . I also have the similar experience , and Yes it works out when the prospect later want a solution , they will be back to us for a proper guidance . Sometimes the particular enquiry may be the one we can cater . However giving proper info will always help us to build a relation . Everything is an opportunity . Colleen , You helped me to think like this , I am a regular listener of yourVideo sales Tip .

    Thanks again

    Cincy
    India

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