26 July 2008
Permission to Reject
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“Mrs. Johnson. Hi. My name is George McGee. And I’m one of those high pressure door-to-door salesmen, can you tell?” Dressed in shorts, tennis shoes, and a nice t-shirt, I looked anything but like a buttoned down high pressure professional salesman.
Mrs. Johnson would usually giggle which was my cue to resume.
“Seriously, I’m the one talking to the families with kids at O’ Henry. I can only stay a few minutes as I am supposed to show this to 30 families a day. Do you have a place where we could sit down?
To which she would usually say “Well, for just a few minutes” and we’d be off and running. If she was at all resistant or uncomfortable, I’d add:
“Your friend, Donna Peterson, was not sure you’d be interested, yet thought you might, at least, want to see what it is”.
“Well, what is it?”
“Let me show you. Can we just sit at the kitchen table? Is Julie here?” And we were into the presentation right after I’d check to see if we had any mutual friends.
As Julie joined us, and her brother Bobby, my mind raced to recall all of the smartest kids in their grades, preferably who were also well liked.
“Julie, do you know Angie Smith?”
“Yes, she’s on my softball team”.
“Bobby”, I’d continue, “Do you know Mike Harris or Gerald Lamar?”
“Yes, they’re both in my grade. We play flag football together. Got a game tonight. Want to come?”
“Darn, I’ll be working. Wish I could. Carol, have you met the school librarian, Phyllis?”
“Oh yes. She’s been at that school since I went there” (And here is an ideal time to give my prospect permission to reject).
“Well, they all got something from me. You all, might like this, you might not. If you end up liking the study guides; great! If not, remember I’m easy to get rid of, Ok?”
Nine times out of ten, if the mutual relationships were positive, they answer was:
“OK, but don’t worry about that”. The family may or may not buy. Yet, I knew at that moment, all my weeks of gathering pre-approach information to build up names was about to pay off. I’d earned this situation. I’d prepared for it. I was, if possible, not going to let it get away.
At the door, I’d admitted I was a high pressure door-to-door salesman. I’d thrown down the gauntlet and answered the prospect’s biggest fear and initial objection with a humorous permission to reject. See how this all comes together?
Rejection becomes more difficult if your prospect is smiling or, especially, giggling. And usually there is time to jump in and further establish relationship and trust. With the confidence your prospect gains by understanding they, not I, are in total control.
For example, when you walk into a store and that clerk comes up saying, “Can I help you?” our initial knee-jerk response is “No, I’m just looking” to ward off the hard to reject intruder, right?
If on the other hand, that clerk, without encroaching into your space, says, “If you need any help with sizes, I’m over here,” what is our response?
“Where are the 32 longs?” Or “What’s been marked down?” As we are drawn to the “easy to reject” spirit of help, as opposed to the feeling of being pressured to respond.
How might you inject more permission to reject into your sales environment? Maybe you are prepared to hear well balanced objections. Maybe your product is not enough of an improvement to be deemed needed.
If permission to reject leads to rejection as in – “George, they’re nice books but unfortunately my kids are slugs, hate school, and prefer to spend that money on video games”.
As difficult as that is to hear, it’s the truth. And one’s chance of hearing the truth is infinitely more possible if the person is not defensive. She’s not defensive because the ‘permission to reject’ keeps her emotional energy feeling firmly in control.
In Real Estate, our firm has a policy: no matter what the terms of a buyer’s agreement or listing contract, if our client wants to void the agreement for any reason, we honor that desire. This does not happen more than 5% of the time. I feel our clients rest more comfortably knowing they are at the reins and could “pull the plug” at anytime they choose.
Does this remove our control? Yes, just like it did thirty years ago while selling books in Riverside, California. My ‘ah hah’ is that if that money-back-guarantee worked for Sears (unfortunately, no relation) and Roebuck, that same permission to reject would be effective for George Sears McGee … or you.
One Comment so far...
John Says:
8 August 2008 at 4:13 am.
I liked this one! I unerstand it is hard to see the benefits of my service now without ever trying it, so I can see why you might be concerned about all this… is that ok?
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