There Are Three Types of ‘No,’ Says the World’s Leading Door-to-Door Sales Expert. Here’s How to Know Which One You’re Hearing

According to the author he began his career as a door-to-door salesman. It was hard. He would barely get his first sentence out, and their response would be, “Not interested!” — followed by a slammed door.  These days, he was a little disappointed when he deson’t get any pushback. He will think, Wait a minute, come on, hit me with something! Why? Because after a successful career in sales, and now running a training agency for salespeople called The D2D Experts, he knows something now that he didn’t when he started: Nine times out of 10, if a prospect doesn’t raise a single objection, they aren’t really listening. They’ve checked out, and when you get to the end, they’ll say something like, “Can you leave me some information? I’ll call you if I’m interested.”

All of which is to say: When people object, they’re engaged. You should like objections. If you can’t deal with objections, you can’t sell.  Instead, when you hear an objection from a customer, you need to assess what kind of objection it is. This is the key to everything that happens next. That’s because there are three kinds of objections:  A deal-breaker condition, A smoke screen, and A true objection.

If you misdiagnose the pushback, you’ll end up responding with the wrong tactics, and they probably won’t work. It’s like trying to use a screwdriver on a flathead nail. So let’s break them down.

A deal-breaker condition is a problem that can’t be resolved or overcome.  A smoke screen can be a little harder to confirm, but the usual tell is that the pushback comes within the first minute of starting your pitch. The classic example is when the prospect says, “Not interested.” If someone says it before they even know what you’re selling, they simply don’t feel like listening to you right now. Their pushback has no connection to what they might think of your offering if they gave you a fair chance to sell it. Other common smoke screens are: “I’m too busy to talk now,” “We can’t afford it,” and “We’re happy with what we’re using.”  However, if a prospect gives you enough time to explain what you’re selling and then resists, or repeats a substantial concern over and over, it might be a true objection. These need to be taken seriously and answered in depth.  A true objection is exactly the kind of pushback you want to hear. It’s a fastball over the plate; you just need to learn how to hit it.