Recently a prospective client had asked me to send him a quote and some examples of my web copy services. His client is in the document storage industry and needed some new copy for his website. Most of the time clients would acknowledge that they have received my quote or will inform me if they will be requiring my services. But I had not heard from my client for more than five days.
Because I did not receive a reply from him and it had been five days, I got concerned. So instead of sitting around wondering if I bungled the job, I decided to find a way to motivate him to give me an update on his progress with his client. At the same time, I want to get his feedback if I had fallen out of the loop of consideration for the job.
In the past I would have just come to the conclusion that the prospective client was not interested in my services and I would have just forgotten about this project and have moved on to the next project that came my way. But one of the most important things that I have learnt when I was in sales some years ago, is that when you are faced with an objection or do not receive a response, ask ‘WHY?’.
Because I did not receive a reply from him and it had been five days, I got concerned. So instead of sitting around wondering if I bungled the job, I decided to find a way to motivate him to give me an update on his progress with his client. At the same time, I want to get his feedback if I had fallen out of the loop of consideration for the job.
In the past I would have just come to the conclusion that the prospective client was not interested in my services and I would have just forgotten about this project and have moved on to the next project that came my way. But one of the most important things that I have learnt when I was in sales some years ago, is that when you are faced with an objection or do not receive a response, ask ‘WHY?’.
We are always elated when we experience a sale or when we have a customer buy our products or services but when our prospects do not buy, how many of us asks why? The only way we are going to grow our sales and businesses is if we know where or what it is that is holding back our customers from experiencing the benefits that our products or services provide and the tremendous value that they bring.
What I Did I decided to send the prospective client an email explaining to him that since I had not heard from him, I was going to infer that he had decided to not use my services. In order to learn from this experience and improve so that I can serve future prospects better, I would like to know why he decided to not use my services.
I wanted to show him that I valued his professional experience and that I am genuinely willing to improve myself. This is something I believe that all entrepreneurs must show in some way or another to their customers and clients. Do not be afraid to ask ‘why?’. I promise you will not look stupid. More often than not, your customers or clients will commend you and be more than willing to provide feedback. They will see your willingness to learn and your sincere desire to serve their needs and will be motivated to keep you in mind when they are ready to buy from you or when they know someone who might benefit from your products or services.
In my email I stated some of the common reasons clients decide to not use a consultant’s services and gently inquired as I genuinely wanted to learn from him if it was any of those or if it was something else that made him decide to not use my services. Some of the reasons included that:
- A legitimate, competing quote was accepted.
- There was a mistake in the quote.
- The quote was deemed too expensive or above the client’s budget.
- The project was cancelled or postponed.
- It was decided that internal resources were to be used instead.
- Some combination of the above.
You might ask why I am sharing this story with you. It is because I realized through this experience that when we experience an objection or when we hear a customer say no, we sometimes take it personally and it can affect our self-esteem and make us entrepreneurs feel that we or our product/services do not carry the value that we believe we carry.
I urge you to be willing to continually take a learning approach no matter how far you have come. We also have to realize that attitude perpetuates on entrepreneurial spirit; and that it helps to remain calm and focused especially when our self-esteem is affected and when we feel rejected.
By asking questions and finding out the real reasons why a prospect says no, we realize that most of the time the reasons for them saying ‘No’ has more to do with them than with us.
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