Do you need five No to get one Yes?

You might have heard it several times: You need five No to get one Yes. It’s an argument suggesting that initial customer reluctance is ordinary, and it can be overcome only with insistence. Is it true?

Not really. Whenever customers clearly state No, it is inappropriate and ineffective to bluntly ignore their answer and continue as if they gave you permission to advance the conversation. We get the customer’s attention and ear by promising we care to listen to what they say. Then, would it be appropriate to blatantly ignore their straight No and continue the conversation as if they didn’t even say it? This tactic cannot establish trustworthiness.

But there is something, though, which is worthy of consideration, and that inspired the reasoning behind the claim that you need a few No to get a Yes. Yes and no are binary answers, while customer interest is a continuous scale. People cannot be either interested or uninterested in what you propose. They might be 30% or 60% interested in what you propose. 

So, when will clients choose to say Yes instead of No? Will they say Yes when they are 51% interested in your product? Unfortunately, that is never the case. 

The reasons are two. The first is uncertainty. A client might perceive that your product or service has value, but their perception is subject to uncertainty, and uncertainty increases reluctance to give affirmative answers. 

The second reason is the expectation of sellers’ behavior. Even if clients have a tangible interest in your product, they are reluctant to say yes because they expect that a yes will prompt sellers’ aggressive sales tactics. Customers are afraid that once they give an affirmative response, sellers will never let them go and attach themselves like leeches.

So, the reality is that clients will give you a Yes only if they are probably 80% interested in what you ask. 

Hence, sellers have surmised that a No is not really a No, and by continuing the sales conversation, you can progressively increase the interest until it reaches the threshold to switch the answer into a Yes. You might have heard that No only means Not Yet.

Except, as we said, this tactic conflicts with the necessary premise that we must listen to what customers say and cannot establish trust by ignoring their answer.

The solution is not to ignore their No, but to avoid them saying it in the first place by asking questions that require small and incremental commitments. Indeed, clients are never ready to say a Yes to a big request, so make the request smaller and less risky.

Instead of asking clients directly to schedule a visit, send them an email asking if you could share a brochure or material. Ask for permission to follow up after a couple of weeks. Ask for a phone call. Then, only when the relationship is warm enough, ask for a visit. 

Instead of selling them a product directly, buy from them small incremental commitments that entail lower risk and do not bear the burden of uncertainty.

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