Salespeople are incentivized to “break down doors.” Their goal is to convince companies to buy from them. When potential buyers tell my salespeople to stop calling a contact at their organization, there is only one response: If someone told your salespeople to stop calling a potential customer, would you want them to stop?
There are good salespeople and bad ones, but backing down when someone says “no” doesn’t make them polite or a good listener. When people say “no,” a good salesperson learns why. Most times there isn’t a why. It’s “because we aren’t looking.” Well neither was Christopher Columbus!
Running away because someone said “no” is easy but doesn’t help your company grow. Sales people have great earning potential, and most people don’t want to do it because overcoming rejection is hard and painful.
When one buyer in an organization says “no,” a good salesperson finds another buyer in the company who will listen. Just listen. The goal is to get in. If the door is closed, find a window. That’s what good salespeople do.
I had a salesperson call into a Human Resources department, and the response was they weren’t looking for a new vendor. So my salesperson called other key influencers and potential buyers–the CFO, CMO, COO and 10 other people. The HR person got wind and emailed the salesperson, “I told you we aren’t buying from you. It all goes through me.”
There’s no logic to that response. What goes through them? They aren’t buying, so there isn’t anything to talk about. Since they said THEY wouldn’t buy, a good salesperson figures out how to crack the code. The best thing about LinkedIn is it showcases job habits. The HR person who shut the door has a new job every 3-5 years, so odds are they won’t be there much longer. A good salesperson gathers the lay of the land and is ready to pounce when the opportunity presents itself. Might be tomorrow, might be in two years.
I don’t think every buyer should meet with every salesperson. I know I don’t. However, it’s ridiculous to think that when you say “no” the other party should just give up. Business is hand-to-hand combat. Every salesperson’s goal is to gain new clients and convince them why they should use their company’s service.
Go ask your sales team if they stop calling when they are asked to, and if they say “yes,” fire them.
The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.