When you hear “no”…the first question in your mind should be “what do I need to learn” and/or “what am I missing”. This, many times, will reveal what you need to find out about key areas including:
Timeline and Timing
Funding
Decision Process
Timeline and Timing
Customers usually have a timeline in mind…when they want the solution to be implemented. Their timeline should give you some feel for how much of a priority your project is. If they do not have a timeline, this may be a sign that the opportunity is not yet real.
Remember, customers have other projects they are juggling. Priorities are changing rapidly. Their “bandwidth” to pay attention to another project may be a challenge.
Funding
It may have nothing to do with your total price…how have your structured billing for your project? How has the customer approached budgeting for this project?
Decision Process
How well do you understand every step in the process including players, criteria and timeline? Has the process changed recently to include additional players and/or organizations (e.g. your customer’s other partners)?
Do not Drop your Pricing
At least do NOT do this immediately...it undermines your hard work to establish the value of your solution.
Ask open ended questions
The more you learn about what you might have been missing, the better positioned you are to establish the value of your solution.
Marc Kitz, Sales Coach
860-836-8979
Checkout my Sales Coaching blog - https://marckitz.com/