Give Them Permission to Say ‘No’

Aside from inefficient sales opportunities, nothing wastes more salespeople’s time than the eternal ‘maybes.’

These are the accounts that have shown some interest, have related pain points, and are marked as 40% probable in your sales funnel. But they either go silent or give you indications that they are interested without actually moving forward.

When reps find themselves in these situations, they tend to spend a lot of time working on opportunities that never close. This is valuable selling time that could have been spent closing deals or finding opportunities with better potential.

More often than not, I’ve found that the root of these problems is that the client is just too nice. They know you’ve put in a lot of work for them, and they feel bad about telling you ‘no.’ They don’t want to disappoint you.

So, to avoid telling you ‘no,’ they keep receiving your information. They tell you things are on hold. They say they’re still interested. Or they simply ghost you.

What they don’t realize is that telling you ‘no’ will actually save you a lot of time. You can cross them off your list and move on. If you don’t push through the ‘no’s, you won’t make money.

The easiest way to avoid all of this is to give them permission to say no. Let them know it’s okay. Leave the door wide open behind them.

It’s as easy as saying:
“The project hasn’t seemed to move forward in a while. I get the feeling your team may have headed in another direction. And that’s okay—just let me know. I’m here for you no matter what you decide.”

Give them permission to say no, and let them know you’re there for the long term.

If they are still genuinely interested in moving forward, they will let you know and provide more insight into what’s happening.

If they are not moving forward, they will likely tell you. They will feel better. You will feel better. And your relationship will be stronger.

This allows you to focus your valuable selling time on opportunities with real potential.

And in the future, this client may need you. And when they do, they will trust you—because they know you have their back for the long term.