ronnie

Enterprise Account Executive

Your best response to: "Hi, that's not of interest to us"?

Hit me with your most solid responses to the "We're not interested" response from a prospect to your first outreach (could be both in text or verbal).

Don'ts: "threatening", toxic, or passive-aggressive.

Do's: Invite to further dialogue, stand out in comparison to other "sales emails", and easy to answer quickly. While still coming across as relevant, genuine, and professional.

Which has worked best for you?

💌 Cold Emailing

😎 Sales Skills

🔍 Discovery

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sketchysales

Politicker

Sales Manager

Challenging question this one. Detectivegibbles response to a point is good however realistically in my experience, anyone coming back with "thats not of interest" is because they do not want to engage with it at this time so getting a further response is very unlikely.

Personally, I have found acknowledging it and then saying something like "totally get it, no worries at all. I hope you dont mind but i am going to take the liberty of sharing/sending etc etc." and i have often followed up with physical mail, such as samples, chocolates and a few other bits and bobs.

The reason i have found this to work i believe is because they are not interested to begin with, its less, its not for them. Going a little further and showing some investment/genuine interest has been a big difference maker rather than just shooting back a generic email, regardless of how "personalised" that question might be.

CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

Exactly this. I do the same thing. I will send important information with a few lines written to them, and am careful to not spam.

ronnie

Executive

Enterprise Account Executive

Agreed! Everything has its time and place, business is no exception.

jefe

Arsonist

🍁

This is a really good approach.

ronnie

Executive

Enterprise Account Executive

Agreed, letting go but staying top of mind.

Love that response and would say I've found that type of response to work best for me. At least to make the later outreach easier.

For sure, it needs to actually be relevant and authentic.

The product/service is not for everyone at all times.

Love the physical gestures, not many people do that.

Do you go back to the last contact with the prospect when outreaching again or more often start off on a clean slate?

sketchysales

Politicker

Sales Manager

I'll send the person I reached out to something directly yes. Usually it's taking that extra care which piques their interest.

It's just sales 101 really, in most of my roles, I've been selling a product or service where they likely already had a solution so it's always easier to say, no interest right now.

Whereas if I hit them before that comment or after it, with something that they can see time and effort has been given too, they often sit up and go hang on maybe this guy does have something of interest and I'll give him a bit of time to talk.

While it's certainly more effort, I go for quality not quantity. My KPIs look shit but my sales tell a different story.

ronnie

Executive

Enterprise Account Executive

I really like that.

The relevance is so important, an genuine and thought through question will always leave solid impact.

detectivegibbles

Politicker

Sales Director

"Awesome, sounds like everything is running smoothly. Curious, when something isn't working correctly, what's the process look like currently to resolve?"

Open ended question to see if you can pull any pain points out of them.

If they're short and don't elaborate...

"No worries at all. We're here to be an option when the time comes."

Set check in 6 months down the road.

HVACexpert

Politicker

sales engineer

well put.

Maximas

Tycoon

Senior Sales Executive

100%✅

ronnie

Executive

Enterprise Account Executive

Like it! Any "sprinkles" with value along the way there or let them grow in peace for the next one?

detectivegibbles

Politicker

Sales Director

Anything that’s possibly of interest to their business.

News articles, newsletters, podcasts etc.

Anything you could shoot a quick email with a link saying…

“Hey customer, saw this today and thought you might be interested. Insert link.

Hope you’re well!”

Keeps your name out in front of them

ronnie

Executive

Enterprise Account Executive

Love that, thanks for sharing!

RandyLahey

Politicker

Account Manager

Ronnie you Swedish STUD incredible profile picture. Welcome to the War Room.

Need some more context here thought; what are you selling? Product or service?

I like confronting the elephant, "sounds like I was off the mark".

ronnie

Executive

Enterprise Account Executive

Midjourney has got my back... Thanks, happy to have found my way here!

For me personally - a service.

Agreed, I like these 1st "No's" to be used as bridges in moving the dialogue with ease forward, to make the next outreach easier. So I'm intrigued to hear how you do?

Kosta_Konfucius

Politicker

Sales Rep

"Thanks for the email [Name}. Is it just bad timing or is there another reason. I don't want to unnecessarily follow up if it does not make sense."

ronnie

Executive

Enterprise Account Executive

That's a nice one as well!

Pachacuti

Politicker

They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy

If that is their response then end the conversation quickly and politely. That person is NOT your buyer.

If you strongly feel that company can really benefit from your solution, than you need to find someone else.

ronnie

Executive

Enterprise Account Executive

Agreed, not everyone is :)

WheelofCheese

Opinionated

Sales Executive

I would respond with an email such as "I appreciate your response and I completely understand if this is not a top priority at the moment. Unless I hear otherwise, I'd like to keep you in mind with anything relevant that you may find of interest in the meantime. Finally, please free to reach out if I can be a resource to you in any way".

In my opinion, this is a non-confrontational email and sets the tone to develop some communication over time. It also shows that you place a value on relationships and not looking for a quick sale.

As many of you know, it takes anywhere between 6 and 8 touches before a suspect is ready to have a conversation with you (barring there are no "fires" happening with their current product/service provider).

I'd also plan a drip campaign with relevant information (monthly) to stay top of mind. Maybe even go old school and send a hand-written note with your business card-- perhaps with a small trinket so the envelope looks worthwhile to open. Better yet, something that needs to go into a small box. You'll stand out and be remembered.

Hope this helps! It's certainly helped me over the years.

ronnie

Executive

Enterprise Account Executive

Absolutely love this!

Couldn’t agree more and thank you for sharing!

Everyone should give that comment an extra read and some love👆

WheelofCheese

Opinionated

Sales Executive

Thank you! 🙂

ventox35

Politicker

Sales Leader

jeb blount response:
"that's fantastic! anytime you get great pricing/service, you should never consider changing.
Look, I just wanted to put a face to a name, and at least offer you competitive pricing to keep the other guys honest"

I use a variation of that, but with an open-ended CTA..
"open to giving us a look if your situation sours?"

ronnie

Executive

Enterprise Account Executive

I like that. Feels genuine, fair, and human. While having a clear purpose!

ventox35

Politicker

Sales Leader

always do the opposite of what they expect. they expect you to start pitching and feature vomiting...instead, congratulate them! agree with them.

ronnie

Executive

Enterprise Account Executive

Exactly!

CadenceCombat

Tycoon

Account Executive

“Hi, that’s not of interest to us.”

”But you called me!”

”What? No I didn’t…”

”Look, I don’t usually entertain cold calls but you seem like a nice guy so I’ll spare 2 minutes.”

”I’m confused…”

”Exactly. You’d be a lot less confused if you had XYZ solution in your tech stack. Unfortunately, I got to run so why don’t we schedule a call end of this week.”

BOOM! You just 10x your quota.

Justatitle

Big Shot

Account Executive

Usually this isn’t one that you’re gonna win over to take a call unfortunately but I do like to ask what they use now, or what they currently do for what my solution offers. At least in this case you can go back in a few months and bring up that you know they do xyz now here’s why what you are selling is better and see if they bite

ronnie

Executive

Enterprise Account Executive

Exactly!

I like to ask about their focus areas for this year. Given that my contact is relevant in order to maybe get a good "hook" for the following outreach. Because they might not always know what they say no to. Then I can quickly provide value in the next message without asking for anything.

SaaSguy

Tycoon

Account Executive

I'll usually ask if they are not interested because they have another vendor in place or if they werent interested because i called out of the blue and dropped some nuggets of information/posed some questions they just werent thinking about at all before I called and they need some time to think before taking a meeting.

ronnie

Executive

Enterprise Account Executive

That's cool, do they tend to elaborate or get back with an answer on that?

In my experience - asking "why", sometimes might come forward as confrontational. But you might have found a better way to ask than me? :)

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

i was taught that the response should always be "can you tell me why not?"

now i dont use those exact words most time. but it could be like

"ah bummer I thought I was going to nail it! Is there a particular reason why its not of interest right now?"

ronnie

Executive

Enterprise Account Executive

Both over the phone and in emails?

I often feel that asking why might be confrontational, even though your example is very subtle.

Just because the quick no might be a sign of bad timing and to then ask a question that's not focused on me, if you know what I mean? Just to get additional info that I can revisit later :)

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

good question.
and yes it is a bit confrontational but thats ok.

I would do it in both situations. Its more likely that you get a response over the phone. But if you can make it sound less direct than you should be good.

Thats why i like the "oh bummer I thought I was going to nail it!" approach. because it defuses the situation a bit, its a bit of a pattern interrupt, and makes you a bit more human.

ronnie

Executive

Enterprise Account Executive

I like it, and will try :)

An important point, making it clear that you're a human reaching out with a purpose. Not always at easy as it sounds but very important!

Chep

WR Officer

Bitcoin Adoption Specialist

Thank you for getting back to me. I understand that this may not be a priority for you right now. However, if there are any changes in the future or if you have any questions about our offerings, please don't hesitate to reach out. I appreciate your honesty, and I don't want to waste your time. If you have a moment, I'd love to know what your current priorities are so that we can tailor our offerings to better suit your needs in the future. No problem, I completely understand. Would it be okay if I followed up with you in a few months to see if anything has changed? In the meantime, is there anyone else in your organization who might be interested in learning more about our products/services? I appreciate your response and thank you for your time. Would you mind sharing what specifically is not of interest to you? We are always looking for feedback to improve our outreach and offerings. Thank you for letting me know. If it's alright with you, I'd still like to send you occasional updates and news about our company and industry. Please let me know if that's something you're open to receiving.

One of these could be of use🤝

AnchorPoint

Politicker

Business Coach

#1... This is not something to be addressed by email. If your positioning statement and unique value proposition is solid, then a simple "how are you addressing those issues now?" should open up the conversation.

ronnie

Executive

Enterprise Account Executive

Facts!

kurmd0g

Personal Narrative

Sales Manager

Is asking the follow-up question, "What's the one thing you wish you could change about your current solution?" too direct?

ronnie

Executive

Enterprise Account Executive

I’d say that’s a matter of when you’re asking it. If it’s like in my post - directly after a “thanks but no thanks” when asking for a meeting - I’d say that you’re better of with leaving a soft “hook”. But in a first meeting or over the phone I think the question is great :)

presidentofcheese

SDR

Hi!

SDR here. 2 ways.

Option 1 - attempt at qualifying again.

"Thank you for responding. Can I ask why you are not interested? Usually when we speak to people like yourself with XYZ roles, they are often interested in feature abc and feature tuv (linked of course). Is there an existing solution you are already using?"

Option 2 - keep it classy if their reason for not being interested is valid enough or you want to cut your losses and move on to the next prospect.

"Thank you for responding! If the need ever arises, please use me as your point of contact and I will be sure to set you up on a quick call to discuss further. Wishing you a very pleasant day ahead."

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ronnie

Your best response to: "Hi, that's not of interest to us"?

41 comment

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