David_Warran

How do you handle "Not Interested" right of the bat?

it's probably a question more for BDR/SDRs, I'm sure other sales teams are facing this issue as well. How do you handle the "Not interested" objection when you didn't even have a second to introduce yourself?

🔎 Prospecting

💌 Cold Emailing

📞 Cold Calling

67 comments

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sahil

Notable Contributor

Deepak Chopra of Sales

Cold calling doesn't work for every prospect. So if you aren't even getting a chance to introduce yourself on a call, move to an email cadence that addresses this as follows:

Subject: I hate cold calls, too.

"Hi NAME,

Sorry for interrupting your day via a call - tbh, I hate cold calls too. We do them because some people actually prefer a quick phone convo vs. email, but clearly you're not in that camp. Hopefully this is a better way to get a moment of your attention:

Bravado helps sales professionals make more money and be more successful at their job. We have a community for elite sales pros who share knowledge, ask / answer questions, and get better together.

If you're interested in learning more, here's a link: LINK
If not, please just shoot me "not for me" and I won't contact you again.

Thanks for taking the time either way,
SM

David_Warran

Valued Contributor

That sounds actually really good, will definitely test this one out

itwasluck

Opinionated

Account Executive

Love this one. Will use thanks for sharing.

NoSuperhero

Politicker

BDR LEAD

This is gold, thank you @sahil!!

Oboy77

Arsonist

Workspace Consultant

This is awesome! I am going to try this email and see what response rate (good or bad), I get back.

Anyone with me?

wahmsales

WR Officer

SDR

@sahil Love ths! Is the link to the site or your calendar or something else?

MMMGood

Celebrated Contributor

Senior Account Executive

Hang up. Move on.

Don't even waste your time.

goose

Politicker

Sales Executive

If they aren't interested in what someone has to say then how can you say don't waste your time? The uninteresting phone call is the waste of time. Are you saying don't do your job?

Sometimes people blame the prospect for not being interested in taking a particular cold call. This feels like one of those times.

highlyinadvisable

Opinionated

SaLeS dEvELoPmEnT rEpReSeNtAtiVe

If you're a leader with budget, it is your job to handle vendors and calls. If you aren't aware of most (if not all) market options or are dogmatically attached to a single solution, you're failing at your job.

It's a failure on the part of the salesperson if they're not immediately stating their business in good faith or are smarmy in their pitch.

When I say "Hi NAME it's Highlyinadvisable with software company, can I have 30 seconds to explain why I called you specifically" and they hang up on me, it's on them. I could be calling to give them a million dollars.

If I said "NAME, what's up? how are you today?" and I get hung up on after not identifying myself immediately, that's on me.

goose

Politicker

Sales Executive

If you are a leader with budget you do your research, call your peers for recommendations, check out G2, etc. I'm not saying they shouldn't take the calls but that's a slippery slope.

funcoupons

WR Officer

👑

Interesting...sometimes I feel this is the way as well. What brought you to this conclusion?

MMMGood

Celebrated Contributor

Senior Account Executive

Sometimes I would make a note to maybe call them back...but only AFTER I got through the rest of my list, or my other "warmer" leads. Lowest hanging fruit; that's not those folks...immediately working uphill. Don't need that noise.

funcoupons

WR Officer

👑

That's fair. I feel like if someone doesn't even have 30 seconds to hear someone out (after I confirm it's not a bad time to talk,) they don't give a fuck about their job or their business and I don't want to work with those kinds of people anyway.

MMMGood

Celebrated Contributor

Senior Account Executive

Spot on. Not my zoo...

Accidental_Sales_Guy

Politicker

Account Executive

1000%

Theloanemperor

Opinionated

Loan Officer

what?? the sale starts when the prospect gives you an answer of any kind. It's our job to show them why our product is a good fit. My first sales job at 19 taught me to know what questions to ask, map out all the potential responses to what i was saying, and potential rebuttals. Preparation is key.....

Tribal24

Good Citizen

SDR

Learned this a while ago, "Jim, of course, you're not interested I haven't even told you what value I can bring."

If their response to that is still NI then just move on. Your job is to turn maybes into yes'. You're not out here turning No's into Yes'

Theloanemperor

Opinionated

-4

Loan Officer

uhhhh completely and utterly disagree with you here. Our job is to sell, period. Turn no's into yes's and maybe's into yes's and hell no's into yes's. And yes, turning a no into a yes is absolutely something you learn in sales with years of experience. Just because someone isn't immediately interested doesn't mean that following up with them and taking the actual time to nurture the prospect won't result in a sale and even referrals because of your method.

Tribal24

Good Citizen

SDR

I hear what you're saying but couldn't disagree more. This also depends heavily on the industry you're in, but in my experience, the time I wasted nurturing an account could've been better spent working with someone who's interested. Or showed a semblance of interest. A straight "No thanks" or "Not interested" before you've even explained what you do is a clear sign of move on. They don't want to hear what you have to say. Now if they'd listened and then said "No thanks" they are at least receptive, and that is worth POSSIBLY nurturing.

Spinning your wheels pursuing someone who doesn't want to talk to you is a waste of time and as a salesperson that's the last thing you should be doing.

CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

Respond with I understand and redirect to ask another question.

Salespreuner

Big Shot

-1

Regional Sales Director

Smart stuff🔥

BlueJays2591

Politicker

Federal Business Dev Director

dig into their disinterest a bit more. some people are very hard to sell to. look for the A+ customer and don't spend much time on those who are difficult. try to dig in but understand that if they say that before you even introduce yourself, they will probably be difficult.

I also don't introduce myself before I get my value prop out. i tell them why i am calling first and then say who i am. if they aren't interested in my value prop and i can't break down that wall, i don't need to waste my time telling them who i am

Sgt_Trollingham

Valued Contributor

Business Development Director

Interesting approach... what does your intro sound like if you don't mind me asking? Feel free to use a bogus company/service/product as an example.

Chep

WR Officer

Bitcoin Adoption Specialist

Why Are You Not Interested Leave It Open Ended

Salespreuner

Big Shot

-1

Regional Sales Director

Perfect

funcoupons

WR Officer

👑

"What are you not interested in?"

"I don't expect you to be interested right now, I haven't given you any reason to be."

eds

Opinionated

Salesy

I think this is a bit confrontative, but it could work

Coffeesforclosers

Notable Contributor

Director Sales and Market Development

NOt interested in what? I havent even gotten to say anything, what if i was publishers clearing house?

Theloanemperor

Opinionated

Loan Officer

My pitch LITERALLY goes like this when developing a new referral relationship: "look i know you have one or two of me already that you're happy with and another 10 of me bothering you every day for business that you wish would die in a fire, but i promise if you let me take you for a quick coffee i'll show you why i can bring more value to your business than your currently loan officer partner." They laugh because it's true and then give me some time.

Incognito

WR Officer

Master of Disaster

I love everything about this

Ace

Arsonist

CEO

Another layer of discovery!

Annonny

Big Shot

Account Executive

Agree with them, letting them know that they are heard, and then over "Totally understand, what exactly are not interested in?" OR " I did speak to XXX there and they did say there may be in opportunity in the future so that is why I was reaching out, to make sure that have not missed out on that opportunity"

goose

Politicker

Sales Executive

Don't reach out, don't circle back, don't touch base, don't "just" anything...

Don't sound like a sales person and they might be more interested.

Bittersweet0326

Politicker

Digital Business Associate

Typically I wouldn't waste a TON of time on it. But I would probably reply with 'Great I wouldn't be interested in talking to someone I don't know anything about either. That's actually why I called to introduce myself...'

Wolf

Opinionated

Commercial Account Executive

Just be candid with them and add a little humour by saying that you wouldn't be interested either if someone cold called you out of the blue and then just respectfully ask for 30 seconds to state the purpose of your call to draw them back.

NorthernSalesGuru

Politicker

Manager, Outbound Sales

Ask them what they’re not interested in

sales4lyf

Politicker

Business Development Manager

Simply, ‘why?’, you’re not being rude or aggressive just simply asking them to open up a little more and understand their reasoning

Tex237

Commercial Account Manager

Just a small amount of pushback for more info can go a long way.

RedLightning

Politicker

Mid-Market AE

That person isn't open to a conversation, so you're going to drive yourself crazy trying to force one.

Those people are generally objecting to any cold call.

Stratifyz

Big Shot

Account Executive

Are you not interested because you have something in place for this or because you just don’t have the time to look into some solutions?

Tex237

Commercial Account Manager

I prefer to leave it more open ended, let them tell me they already have someone else rather than volunteering the out. 95% of my prospects are already working with a competitor though so I can see how maybe this would work in a less saturated industry

Broncosfan

Politicker

Account Manager

You’re not interested in how your peers are approaching their company’s digital transformation/AI integration/whatever you sell and saving time/energy/money in the process?

TheDeplorable

Politicker

Cant sell to everyone

TheRealPezDog

Notable Contributor

Account Manager

Give up on them and call their boss. Nothing better than a prospect who was unwilling to engage with you being cc’d on an email that they have to!

ChocolateBrown

The Mob Leader

Reschedule right away.

When a person says "not interested" you say. "Trust me you will be interested in this. If now isn't a good time when do you have 10 minutes?"

The blow off is literally a test to see if you can sell or not!!!

B2Biotechguy

Good Citizen

Account Manager

Depends on the method of prospecting. I typically retort with "most of my current clients felt the same way when we first started talking *add a chuckle*"

David_Warran

Valued Contributor

But that already puts you in the position that you’re trying to sell something, instead of learning about their company(qualifying)

B2Biotechguy

Good Citizen

Account Manager

They already know you're selling something--you have a LinkedIn profile assumedly. Your job is to get them to open up and listen to them. It works probably 90% of the time. Social proofing is a serious tool. If it doesn't work then follow up in a cadence that works for the situation and person.

Leadlover

Contributor

UK Sales Manager

Sod them. If you're selling a product that gets this response most of the time, you're selling the wrong thing. If its uncommon, just sod them

ajbuttler

Executive

Account Manager

At that point use a hail mary and move on... don't spend much time after that.

Revenue Angle - "What revenue are they losing/not getting without your solution?"

Fear Angle - "What do they have to lose without your solution?"

ChefK

Good Citizen

SDR

How about this: give me 37 seconds to tell you why I am reaching out, why I thought it would be relevant to you personally and your business and if you still aren’t interested I’ll hang up on myself.

they give them the best 3x3 you have ever done!!

BOOM!!

ChefK

Good Citizen

SDR

You just need a pattern interrupt.

Kyle

Old School Bravo

CEO

I've followed the same framework for years. The triple A. Acknowledge, answer, ask.

Acknowledge that you heard the prospect

Answer their underlying concern (wasting time typically)

Ask a question to keep the conversation going

Example: "not interested"

I totally get it, I called you out of the blue and the last thing I want to do is waste your time. To see if its worth a conversation, Typically, we help [company type] [what you help them do 1]. Or, they are [what you help them do 1] but [what you help them do 2]. Which one of those would you say is your main focus right now?

This technique doesn't work all of the time but works enough to be worth doing every time.

In cold calling, you are fighting for percentage points. Every % matters.

KendallRoy

Politicker

This is from an AE perspective and with email mainly. I'm in a higher volume role with a lot of freedom around discounting and free periods, so I have a go-to Outreach snippet I wheel out as a last resort to get their attention. Yesterday it took a CFO from "Not interested" to "Let's loop in our IT Director to discuss".

Cold calling and getting that response? If you try and keep them on the line, chances are you'll piss them off. Maybe send them a quick email after thanking them for the brief chat, sharing value and how you've helped similar companies, and a light touch call to action ("Any of this struck a chord or am I off-base?" etc).

cw95

Politicker

Sales Development Lead

I just say 'Just to educate myself, why is it that you wouldn't be interested so I can also feed it back to my team' They will say 'It just won't work for us due to X reason' or they will say 'We've used something similar in the past and it didn't work'. Opens it up to ask more questions and get them talking. Then if the call doesn't end on a NO then you can follow up with an email explaining why what you sell won't cause those previous experienced problems.

NoSuperhero

Politicker

BDR LEAD

I started asking two questions, one relating to the product and their persona and the other question being someting like because you find cold calls as annoying as much as I hate making them? or something that puts me down idk.

ragnarlothbrok

Politicker

Key account manager

I put the phone down and move the F on

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David_Warran

How do you handle "Not Interested" right of the bat?

67 comments

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