I ran across an interesting post yesterday at the SalesPractice.com Forum. A user posted a new topic entitled “We’re not interested objection“  and started the post with the following questions:

We’re not interested objection

Yikes, now what?

Do you push forward or turn around and walk out?

Another user then followed up with a question asking whether or not this resistance was being encountered up front, in the middle or at the end of the presentation because there is a difference. A third user confirmed that timing can help indicate which type of resistance was being encountered and gave an example of two scenarios, one being up front and one being at the time of the presentation.

The fact is, regardless of what stage within the sales cycle you are at the “we’re not interested” objection is a common one. Dealing with this objection can be difficult and can cripple the momentum of any salesperson if they are not prepared for it.

So what does “we’re not interested” mean?

There are probably many reasons why a prospect would give this objection; maybe they really are not interested; maybe they just don’t need what you are selling; maybe they have a friend offering the same exact product or service as you and would prefer to deal with them instead of you; or maybe they really don’t understand what you are selling and you have not done a sufficient enough job to help them understand exactly what you are offering.

I truly believe regardless of what stage you are at within the sales cycle when a prospect tells you that they are not interested you really need to do your due diligence and find out exactly why they are not interested. The fact is that a high percentage of instances when a prospect tells you they are not interested is because they do not fully understand what you are offering.

As I mentioned in my post on the forum, whenever I get the “I’m not interested”  or “we’re not interested” objection, my first response to the prospect is “exactly what are you not interested in” or “I understand, would you mind if I ask what you are particularly not interested in.” Not surprisingly, their responses usually confirm that I have not done my due diligence and helped them understand my offering or they have another objection such as “price” which I need to address.

By asking these questions I am able to confirm that the prospect really understands what I am offering and I am able to determine if there are some deeper issues that need to be resolved. In addition, the prospects answer could provide some valuable information as to the public perception of my product or services or more importantly my presentation and communication skills in general.

So in closing, to the user who asked the original question; “Do you push forward or turn around and walk out?” - I would say “push forward”, “ask questions”, and “keep digging.”