Salespeople… Here’s how I handle the “not interested” objection…
We’ve all heard it—you begin a cold call, you get into your opener and the prospect hits you with,
“Sorry, not interested.”
Now, when I first started in sales, the advice I was given was something along the lines of:
“Force them into a conversation by any means necessary.”
Although if any of you have tried this tactic, I’m sure you’ve also found that it TOTALLY does NOT work.
Prospects aren’t stupid.
No matter how slick and smooth you think you are, NO one is going to get tricked into having a conversation they don’t want to have.
With that being said, this does NOT mean you have to hang up immediately and apologize profusely.
Here’s the script I use that has been EXTREMELY successful in getting me to a yes/no as quickly as possible.
It goes something like:
“Yeah. No worries, John! Sorry if I called at a bad time. Real quick though—you mind if I send over an email? I’ll make the subject line “Just Called,” so it’s easy to find. In the email I’ll explain how Servicebell can help you QUADRUPLE the amount of conversations your SDRs are having on the phones.
All I ask is that you answer with a simple Yes/No on whether it’d be worth my time to follow up later. If it’s a no, I promise to respect that and will take you off my call list forever. Is that alright with you?”
In this script, you’re able to explain what your company does while ALSO acknowledging that you respect the choice that they’ve made—that they DON’T want to talk.
When a prospect expresses that they can’t take your call, your best bet is to give a good first impression and prepare for the next time you connect down the road.