What You Need to Know About Losing a Sale
It’s easy to think that losing a sale is the end of a conversation, it’s not. But in order to rebound after losing a sale, you must first understand the different reasons for losing it in the first place.
- The client did not feel like what you provide has enough value to them.
- There was a miscommunication of some kind.
- It’s just not a good fit.
- Bad timing.
I could write a book just on the first point, but for sake of simplicity we’re just going to stick to what needs to happen after you think you’ve lost a sale.
Realize that “no” doesn’t mean never.
Any good salesperson knows that “No” doesn’t mean “Never.” In fact, the most successful salespeople are resilient and persistent – especially when it comes to follow-ups.
There is a chance that right now just isn’t the right time for the client. It happens. That’s why you need to do two things:
- Make sure they are on your email list so you can continue marketing to them.
- Consistently follow-up with them.
I’ve had prospects that don’t become clients until months later because it just wasn’t the right time during our initial conversation. Because I was so persistent, I was the first person they thought of when they were ready to hire.
Send them a freebie.
If you think you’ve lost a sale, one of the things you can do to reel it back in is to surprise the prospect with a freebie. This is actually something I learned from one of my sales mentors back in the day and it actually works.
Let’s say you’re a business coach who helps people with branding. Let’s also say a prospect wasn’t ready to work with you right now. What you can do is send a surprise freebie – like a worksheet that helps them figure out their brand story.
This gives a little extra touch they probably weren’t expecting. It also sets you apart from all the other business coaches out there. And finally, it gives the prospect an idea of the kind of customer service they can expect from you.
Handle objections via email.
If you’re just learning how to do sales, you may be dipping your foot into learning how to handle objections. Common objections include “I need to think about it” or “I can’t afford it.”
If you didn’t get a chance to address these on the phone, you can still do it via email. For example, if “I can’t afford it” is the objection, you can show them how they are actually leaving money on the table by NOT hiring you.
Final Thoughts
The main thing to remember after losing a sale is that you probably haven’t really lost it…at least not forever. It’s also important to know there are things you can do to salvage it. With practice, all of this starts to become second nature and you save more sales.
