We’ll agree it takes an average of 5 “No’s” to get to yes in sales, I’m assuming you’re all familiar with the old adage. I can’t recall who actually coined it. Was it William Ury in his 1981 non-fiction Getting To Yes?
Thinking back on it, I’m not so sure I actually ever knew what those 5 “No’s” were. Perhaps something like this for example:
Hi there, will you buy something from me?
No, I’m not interested
No, the time is not right
No, I don’t have any budget
No, we’re good the way we are
No, my needs have changed
From there, (somehow auto magically) you ask the question but one more time and, Voila, the person runs out of “No” and finally succumbs to your advances. The squeaky wheel gets the grease. Or at least it is supposed to go something like that. Right?
If we can agree that those were the 5 “No’s” of sales, then these might be the 5 “No’s” of Social Selling and our customer’s new buying journey.
- No, I haven’t been able to find your information online.
- No, your LinkedIn profile does not give me the sense that you are an expert.
- No, I have not been influenced by any of your thought provoking content.
- No, you’ve done nothing to educate me on why I should choose you.
And finally,
- No, I have not been getting your emails and phone calls!
Did you see that? Catch what happened there? Customers don’t say no to your face anymore. That’s because, guess what? They didn’t want to say “No” to your face in the first place. ‘Cause you are still far too aggressive, you call too much, and you add no value.
The Internet has become a buyer’s great wall. Their weapon of mass non-communication. Every buyer is now in their own little ivory tower. Don’t call us, we’ll call you.
The Bottom Line
It’s no wonder you are missing your numbers, you’re still doing things the old way. Failing to meet the buyer where they want to be met. Start looking into how Social Selling can help you conduct business with today’s buyers by checking out our social selling blog and download our”>42 LinkedIn Sales Tips. Should you wish to chat further about Social Selling you could always book a 15 min conversation with me by clicking on my below calendar link.
