Sales pitch: how to turn a "no" into a "yes"? 

Imagine this: you have a sales call, but you end up getting a rock-hard "no. All entrepreneurs face this and it can feel unpleasant. How do you deal with such a "no" and how do you turn it into a "yes" during your sales pitch? In other words, how do you make sure that you do bring in your top customers?

Your customer is not yet ready to buy

If you hear a "no" during your sales call, it means your customer is not ready to buy at this point. I also explain this in the video below.

In this video you see a small part of the Customer Strategy, I cover this in detail during the Growth Program OpMARKably Profitable. In it you put your target market, your ideal customer and niche well. Did you know that only 7% of your top customers are ready to buy NOW? 

The better your positioning stands, the better you will be noticed by your top clients and your warm leads will flow through to be ready to buy. So when you are often told a "no" during your sales callThis means that you still have to work on your positioning and presenting your added value. In addition, you can learn to sense when someone is or is not ready to buy. 

The different phases of sales

Like the customer journey in your marketing strategy, the sales process also has several stages. Compare it to dating. During the first date, you don't ask your date to get married in community right away. Even if you promise golden mountains, the other person will not say "yes" to you. 

Like dating, you have to get to know each other first. You have to connect, build trust and see the value of each other. Most importantly, you have to know who you are yourself and what you stand for, what your values and standards are before you know who is right for you.

The 7 steps of the sales process

The sales process is somewhat different for each entrepreneur, but in basic terms, you go through this 7-step process. 

• Sales prospecting
• Getting in touch
• Qualification
• Warm
• Making an incomparable offer
• Addressing objections
• Concluding sales call

1. Sales prospecting

During sales prospecting, you keep your Customer Strategy in mind. You look at who your top customer is, how best to approach them and probe whether they are interested in your service or product. It goes beyond lead generation. With lead generation you collect contact information, during sales prospecting you have contact with your leads and probe whether they are interested in your service or product. For example by inviting them to follow an online seminar and asking them some questions in the meantime that they have registered for this.

2. Getting in touch

In the second step, you contact your leads. Here it is important that you know what stage of the sales process your lead is in. Is he or she a follower, a warm lead or already ready to buy? Usually someone who has downloaded an e-book is not yet in the ready-to-buy phase, unless they already know you and have been following you for longer. You can contact them in several ways, sending them emails, sending them a message directly via LinkedIn or scheduling (or having them schedule) a call appointment. 

If someone has already filled out a contact form on your website for a phone call, a quote or demo of your product, he or she is (almost) ready to buy.

3. Qualification 

For me, the most important thing is that my client wants to cooperate even more than I do. Of course, I have to be eager to work together myself, but I don't want to push or force, that won't get me a "yes" from my top clients. My top clients have to decide for themselves that they want to work with me and that they are ready to be helped. So when someone schedules a MatchCall with me, I first ask them a number of questions. One question that is very important here:

"Do you really feel 100% excitement and the drive to take a new strategic step to develop and grow? If so, what is the opMarkable Profitable Result you wish to achieve?"

With this, I also already filter whether someone is actually ready to be helped.

4. Keep warm 

In the big pond of leads, there are fish who are already ready to buy, those who are warm or still cold followers and those who said "no" during a sales call. It's important to stay connected with all of these people. I have several top clients who initially said "no" and became customers months later anyway. Often they felt that with my tips and value they could already solve it themselves, but later found that implementing it was more difficult than they thought.

Staying connected, at whatever stage, gets and keeps your target audience warm. So that eventually they are convinced of you and your expertise and you don't have to convince them to partner with you. A "no" is not a "no," it's a Next Opportunity. 

A fun sales pitch example of a client who said "no," but who I now work with in other ways, is Soraya Koendjbiharie. For example, I was invited on her podcast and had a nice conversation with her for my podcast and YouTube channel about the choices with her business. 

5. Making your incomparable offer

The fifth step of the sales process is to make an offer. You often find that people are ready for this when they ask about your rates, sign up for a MatchCall or request a demo of your product. This is your time to make an unforgettable offer that is relevant and fits the needs of your top customers.

6. Overcoming objections 

Some people immediately say "yes" to your offer and others have to think about it for a while. When you then come back to them, you often find that they still have certain objections. It is now your turn to remove these objections, by engaging in conversation with them and showing them the benefits of working with you. But remember: your top client has to want to work with you even more than you want to work with them.

They should feel like they are a day late in talking to you, that they want to start right now. So don't jump through all kinds of hoops just to please your client. If you find that you are not a match, just be that way.  

7. Concluding the sales call

Once you've been told "yes," it's time to finalize the details. Give your top client time to ask any more questions and guide them to the next steps. Also interesting to read: Side Hustle: 5 profitable ideas

No more convincing during a sales call: your top customer is convinced of you

Do you wish you no longer had to convince your clients of your value and only want to work with top clients with whom you get the best results?

Then it Program OpMerkelijk Profitable & Mastermind Artificial Intelligence ideal for you. Together we will work on your foundation, positioning your personal BRAND, your customer strategy, product strategy, business strategy, sales strategy and social media. Not only will you learn to stand out, but also how to work smarter with AI tools like ChatGPT.