Train Your Brain… Think Like a 5 Year-Old! [for Jeb Blount]

We are sales professionals. That means we love those three little letters: Y-E-S.

Is there a sweeter sound than hearing a hard-earned “yes” at the end of a sales presentation? I think not.

Of course, the converse is also true. The word “no” is like a dagger in the heart. It falls upon us like it weighs two tons. We’re Wile E. Coyote, crushed under a ginormous rock!

But it doesn’t have end that way. All we need to do is study the typical 5-year-old.

Little kids are selectively deaf. Their tiny little brains seem incapable of hearing the word “no.”

Kid: “Daddy, can I have candy?”

Dad: “No.”

Kid: “Pleeeeeease?”

Dad: “No.”

Kid: “I’ll be good.”

Dad: “No.”

Kid (with an impish grin): “Mommy would say ‘yes’.”

Dad: “Okay.”

As sales professionals we can actually learn quite a bit from that 5-year-old.

The response from the father/prospect was “no,” but what did the child hear? Seriously, how did the kid interpret that simple word?

The child hears “no.” But they interpret “no” as “not yet.”

That’s huge. What if sales professionals could train their brains to do the same thing. What if they could develop the mantra: No = Not Yet.

It makes sense when you think about it. Suppose the customer says “no” when you ask for the sale. We can still make a critically obvious observation: the customer is still here.

The customer did not simply say no, turn around and stomp off, never to be seen again. The prospect is still standing in front of you. The “no” was really a “not yet.” And the “not yet” could be interpreted further as a “help me!”

That’s what a “no”/“not yet” really is – it’s a plea for help.

What kind of impact would it have if you changed your thinking and simply applied a “not yet” attitude in your sales presentation? It could be a lot!

So be like a 5 year-old again. Get stubborn. Become deaf to the word “no” and interpret it as a “not yet.”

If you do, you can change your customer’s world.