Dealing with no
How to apply an email 'negative-reverse'
Jeff Molander
Sales communications coach & Managing Partner, Communications Edge Inc.
Trainer to brands like:
Think back ... to the last time a seller was persuading you to buy. A time when you were comfortable with how things were at the moment. The decision you were being asked to consider required significant time to consider.
And you didn't have time.
Remember a situation like that? You weren't able to stop and consider your specific needs—let alone the details of the product/service. You resisted a bit.
Suddenly, as you were conversing, the seller said, “Ok. I don't think you're ready for this yet. This clearly isn't a fit for you now.”
Ever experience that? It's jarring.
That's because the seller challenged your desire—your ability to want what they're offering.
It's a queer event and generates tension. Purposefully.
If this sounds familiar, you were probably succumbing to an old (yet effective) sales communications technique called negative-reverse selling. This is one of many effective communications tools invented by David H. Sandler.
David Sandler
Sales genius
It's a method successful digital sellers understand and practice when using the written word. Do you? (Disclosure: we teach this technique)
What is the negative reverse?
Writer, Anna Migeon puts it best. She says, selling is like fishing, according to Sandler.
“When you first feel a tug on the line, resist the impulse to reel in the line right then. That first nibble is just the moment when the fish needs a little extra slack on the line, to allow it the time to really grab hold of the hook.”
Ever bottom-fish for bass with soft, artificial lures? Then you know what I'm talking about!
Ms. Migeon says with knowledge and understanding, the patient fisherman or fisherwoman waits for the line to tighten again ... then gently, carefully, sets the hook.
You see, Sandler invented the idea of making “verbal contracts” with prospects. Rather than trying to sell to them, Sandler started challenging his prospects to convince him to sell.
His approach was unorthodox. Strange at the time. Yet dramatically effective.
When should you use it?
When developing email and phone scripts. The negative-reverse technique can be effective in email communications—as part of your follow-up message sequence. It's a great way to “weed the garden” of poor leads—so you can move on to more close-able prospects.
This very deliberate, specific way of writing is effective in helping clients self-disqualify from your prospecting message sequence.
Ms. Migeon puts it plainly. When the prospective buyer seems interested the amateur, over-eager salesperson will whip out the contract.
“It’s at that point the prospect smells a rat and is likely to run the other way, “ says Ms. Migeon. “The more pushy and aggressive the salesperson, the more resistant the prospect is likely to become.”
However, an effective salesperson knows when to give the fish extra line.
Examples of a negative-reverse
“Well it sounds to me like you aren't interested in moving forward on training your sales team, Susan.”
Or...
“The more I listen, the more I understand. You're not ready to invest in improving your sales communications technique.”
Or perhaps you might ask your prospect, “are you sure you’ve given this enough thought?”
These are direct and polite ways to suggest your potential buyer may not be as thoughtful as they should be.
One of our students, Chris, came to me recently. His prospect was replying to his first-touch message... but dismissing his value proposition. The customer acted like he knew the details of Chris's pricing and the disruption buying would cause.
The customer was wrong on both counts.
So Chris wrote back, “I can read the kind of 'no thanks' in your words, James. However...”
Chris described how the prospect's words proved he (the prospect) did not take the time to understand Chris's words. He simply dismissed them.
Chris gently acknowledging the prospects' right to decline, but was blunt and direct about it. This often dis-arms prospects, catches them off-guard. The next sentence politely challenged the prospect to have a clearer understanding—but only if he had a need to.
This helped the prospect wonder, “gee, maybe I should consider this for a second.”
In this case, Chris's prospect came back and agreed to have more thoughtful conversation. All thanks to the gentle push-back.
Challenge buyers to be honest with themselves
These are just a few examples of ways to challenge prospects. The fundamental idea in negative-reverse is to help spark a, “wait a minute... I never said I was done considering this” or a deeper thought relating to a pain, fear or objective they're facing.
This technique can help “hit refresh” on the conversation in a more authentic, honest way.
Negative-reverse selling is a time-tested, consistent and proven way to harness prospects' negative energy—using it to both sides' advantage. Especially when you have a dialogue working, but need to qualify it a bit more.
What do you think?
Sales communications coach & Managing partner
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