by Carl Ingalls

Being willing to walk away from a deal will get you much better deals.  This may be obvious to some readers, but may not be so obvious to salespeople who cannot take “No” for an answer.

Most buyers see an abundance of salespeople in the world.  They have no difficulty in walking away from any one of them, because there will always be plenty more.  They feel they can afford to be selective, and this reveals confidence.

Many sellers see a scarcity of buyers.  They act as if they have to pounce on every opportunity for a sale, even when the chances are slim.  They feel they cannot afford to be selective, and this reveals desperation.  Salespeople who cannot take “No” for an answer are people who are not willing to walk away, and they pay a penalty for this.  For one thing, they have to cut their prices, and then they blame the customer for caring too much about price.

The most successful salespeople see plenty of buyers in the world.  They have no difficulty in walking away from any one of them.  They just move on to the next person in their list.  They are very selective about the people they do business with.  As a result, they make more sales and they get better prices.

Author’s note:  The theme of this blog article was suggested to me by Linda Sgoluppi in a conversation on Twitter.