Once you dive into the business of selling a product or service, it’s unavoidable at some point that you will get a No. In fact you’ll likely to get a No various times before you could even get your first yes, and even then you’ll still get rejected.
The success of your business will likely rest on your capacity to fill a desire and overcome objection.
Your prospective client might default to “no” for a various reasons, of which amongst them can be timing, urgency, education and fear. That’s why it’s vital to take a “No” as an opportunity to help the prospect understand the value of what you are trying to sell.
The dark side of selling involves using aggressive tactics like shame, guilt or desperation to win over the prospective client. Inasmuch as fear-based marketing strategies can be effective, your new customer might walk away feeling used or taken advantage of. Business models such as network marketing or MLM (multi level marketing) are notorious for leveraging this tactic. Sellers lead with the promise of financial freedom, flexibility, an increase in business acumen and all the perks of being your own boss.
The following are 2 reasons you mustn’t use fear, guilt or shame as a selling tactic and what you could do instead.
It Diminishes Trust
Trust is a cornerstone in most relationships. When you make use of guilt, fear or shame as a selling tactic, you’re backing your customer into a corner where they feel forced to buy something due to their emotional response, not because they actually need your product or service. That damages your relationship with that prospect irreparably.
However, you can make use of important and relatable instances that tells the prospect why your product, service or concept is the best fit for their business. Let them choose it with confidence, not fear.
It’ll Turn Them Off
Certain number of persons might see the value in what you’re selling but will simply lose interest because of how pushy your sales approach feels to them. They identify with the discomfort of the triggers associated with fear, guilt or desperation, and they associate your pitch with that discomfort. They might have witnessed this pattern in previous sales attempts and disengage. After the first few “nos” you might become more aggressive and press harder, which will only make their decision easier. They might even tell friends, colleagues and family members about the experience and discourage them from entertaining a pitch from you.
More so, getting to understand that every client is not your ideal client is quite crucial in setting and respecting the boundaries associated with establishing trust, providing value and closing a sale.
Instead, make efforts to uncover what barriers exist in getting your prospect to yes. Is it an issue of money, timing, circumstance or commitment? If you can make it easier for that person to do business with you, they likely will. And if it’s something outside of your control, then ending on a positive note might encourage them to seek you once when they work out whatever is stopping them from getting on board.
To wrap-up, when we’re approached by anything that feels “salesy,” we immediately put up our guard against the textbook sales strategies people use to win you over. We pay attention to language, tone open-ended or leading questions, and we start formulating our “no” before the pitch is even made.
As a dropshipping brand, we have to be careful about how we leave prospects feeling. We make sure to establish trust, create an experience they’ll want to share, and leave the interaction on a positive note that invites them to return when or if working with us makes sense in the future.
