Does the following scenario seem familiar? You email a timely objection response to a prospect to address their concern. You’ve presented and met with them numerous times over several months. You feel your offering is an ideal fit for addressing this company’s goals, and the prospect has expressed enthusiasm for working with you several times. You’re brimming with confidence.
But then, an hour later, the prospect sends you a one-line rejection email that reads like this:
“Sorry. Our project team decided we’re going to contract another vendor for this project.”
Or like this:
“We’ve decided to put this project on the back burner for now. I’ll get back to you when this topic comes up again, possibly next year.”
You think to yourself, “Does the prospect have cold feet? Are they talking to a competitor? Don’t they understand the value of our offering after the discovery calls, demonstrations, and email discussions we’ve had?”
Your heart sinks, and your blood runs cold. This deal was forecast to close this quarter, and you’ve invested lots of time working with this prospect. The rejection email caught you completely off-guard. Now what? How do you reply to a rejection email like this?
Let’s discuss.
Table of Contents
- Why Clients Reject Salespeople via Email (and What to Do Next)
- How to Respond to a Sales Rejection Email
- How to Overcome a Sales Rejection
- Treat Sales Rejection Emails as Growth Opportunities
Why Clients Reject Salespeople via Email (and What to Do Next)
Obstacles like timing, lack of resources, competitor influence, and budget constraints can throw a monkey wrench into a sales engagement and disrupt a prospect’s buying plans.
As a consultative salesperson, you should think objectively about the rejection email. The client may like working with you and just be using email as a way to let you down without having to do it in person or over the phone.
You may want to hold off on responding until you can talk to your manager. Or, if you do respond, send a polite email asking for a debrief or Win-Loss review conversation to understand why they had a change of heart. Just be sure you don’t respond when your emotions are raw, as you might risk ending the relationship permanently.
Don’t take sales rejection emails at face value.
A sales rejection email may not be a final “No,” or even a “Not now.” It could be a signal that the prospect feels like the sales process is moving too quickly or they need you to firmly guide them on what they should do.
You should respond with empathy and understanding, as there may be an underlying reason for the email — for example, your competitor might have an existing relationship with the company or decision-maker. Misinformation or a misunderstanding might be blocking your sale from moving forward. The decision to reject your offer could have been beyond their control. They may not agree with the decision not to buy from or contract with your company.
There’s also a chance you may be able to move the business case forward with:
- Information that reinforces their investment won’t jeopardize their personal reputation in their company – or their company’s reputation in the marketplace. Case studies, ROI studies, and customer video testimonials are great resources you can use to ease these concerns.
- Resources that can help with change management, adoption, or implementation of your solution, and/or talking to your client about services like customer success programs.
- A meeting of your management team and the prospects. They may just need to feel valued. A conference call, introduction to your sales manager, or an executive face-to-face meeting might be all it takes.
Politely request a debrief call or meeting to discuss their rejection.
Resist the temptation to ask for an explanation via email. Instead, as positively as possible, invite the prospect to a debrief call or meeting. For example, here’s an email I created with the help of HubSpot Breeze, our AI assistant.
|
Subject: Opportunity for My Company to Learn and Improve Dear [Prospect’s Name], I am reaching out as a follow-up regarding your decision not to move forward with [the solution you proposed]. I am disappointed to miss out on an opportunity to do business with a company like yours, and I genuinely see this as a valuable opportunity to learn and grow so my team and I can better address the needs and concerns of companies like yours in the future. I would appreciate the chance to understand your perspective better. If you’re open to it, I’d love to schedule a brief call to discuss what influenced your decision. Your insights could greatly help us refine our approach and enhance our offerings to better meet the needs of prospective clients like your business. Please let me know if you’re available for a chat in the coming days. I value your feedback and look forward to the possibility of reconnecting. Regards, [Your Name] |
By sending this kind of email, you are extending an olive branch to the prospect, and not ending the relationship. If the relationship is recoverable, this call is your best opportunity to discover the path forward.
I remember a time when I was selling a software upgrade and services to a municipal government customer. He was challenging to get on the phone, and had “kicked the can down the road” via email for two previous quarters. My manager was relying on me to bring the nearly six-figure deal in for the fourth quarter. I really didn’t want to tell my manager that I failed to close the deal after investing so much time. Our company had an office building in the city governed by this client, so our taxes would repay this client over time anyway.
I had already provided the client with:
- A compelling proposal with fair pricing to enable the client to get more ROI from their existing technology with minimal effort.
- A technical resource to support a proof of concept of an email management system.
- Meetings between my company’s product managers and their team.
- Significant time investment at a government user group meeting.
This time, the sale was likely to be delayed indefinitely, so I asked to have a call to understand what I could have done to earn their business.
It turned out that the client’s legal team was concerned with our licensing terms and wanted us to modify our contract language about how they could use the technology. Once I understood the roadblock, I was able to work some magic to get our general counsel to amend our licensing agreement, and a signed contract followed soon after.
It turned out the IT executive I was speaking with wasn’t empowered to proceed with the purchase; however, he was concerned my company wouldn’t be flexible with our contract terms.
Here’s what I learned: In my experience, if a customer is confident about the reasons why they are rejecting your offer or if there is no way to regain their business, they will tell you in person or over the phone. A rejection email might just be an “SOS” message in disguise.
Be prepared by familiarizing yourself with common email rejection statements.
Sales objections can be challenging, especially as you near the end of a fiscal period. Here are some common objections you may have experienced in the past, or heard from your prospects as recently as today.
- It’s not a good time for us to buy.
- Call me back next quarter.
- I’ll get back to you when this returns to our top priority list.
- We’ll think about it.
- We’ve decided to buy a competitive solution.
How should you respond to these email rejections tactfully, and in a way that either moves a purchase forward or keeps the door open for future business?
Here are some field-proven strategies for overcoming objections and making your customer an advocate for getting the deal done — instead of an adversary.
How to Respond to a Sales Rejection Email
Earlier, we mentioned the importance of empathy when a prospect signals their rejection via email. Yet if there is any possibility of regaining the relationship and the sale, you need to understand their motives.
Inject empathy and a thoughtful tone into all communication with prospects no matter their objection or final decision. The prospect may change course again in your favor, and burning bridges doesn’t help anyone.
Early on in my sales career, I found objection handling the most challenging aspect of sales — especially during cold calls when someone pushed back right after I introduced myself. The “I’m not interested” and “we use a competitive solution” objections were particularly daunting.
I improved in this area by asking the prospect what interested them in my industry, and what they liked and didn’t like about the solution they were running. I found that even if someone wasn’t interested in the campaign offer I was calling about, they liked sharing their opinions on what mattered to them.
Now, let’s dive into your sales rejection response options.
1. “Thanks for your time” (aka the breakup email).
I’m a big fan of the musician Sting, especially his song “If You Love Someone, Set Them Free.” In a similar way, you can send a breakup email to signal you are prepared to leave a prospect to their own devices with grace and some lessons learned. You might rekindle the relationship immediately or at least earn the right to reconnect within an agreed timeframe.
2. “If money and resources were no object, would you be willing to start with our product today?”
If your prospect says “no thanks” to your offer, they may not be convinced of the value or benefit of your products or services. If that’s the case, try to find out why — pin down the root of the issue. One way to get there is by taking price out of the equation and exposing any fundamental issues they have with your offering.
If your prospect says “yes” to this question, dig deeper to discover what logistical hurdles are standing in their way to determine whether or not you can accommodate.
3. “Can we discuss what’s holding you back?”
Try getting your prospect to talk in person or on the phone through their reasoning for their delay or decision to back out entirely. You’ll put yourself in a better position to address their hesitation and work to find some middle ground that suits both your business as well as the prospect. Make the conversation a safe space to speak openly and without judgment.
There may be financing arrangements that you can offer if they have budget constraints. You may have professional services, training, or customer success offerings that may ease adoption and change management in ways they never consider. If the prospect has existing systems or processes that they need to connect to, you might have integration paths or workflows that can support their needs.
4. “Have you adjusted your purchase timeframe?”
Maybe your prospect does intend to buy your solution, but they aren’t confident they can move forward now due to factors like budget or other resources. Depending on their response to this follow-up question, and the flexibility of your products and services, you could adjust the scale to meet a subset of the prospect’s needs now. Or, you can agree to a follow-up timeline (see #10).
5. “What are your company’s other priorities right now?”
It‘s possible that your prospect has several other pressing projects that need to be completed. If you have the whole picture, you’ll be able to tell how much of an impact your offering can really make right now. Or even better — how your products or partner add-ons can help achieve their other goals.
If it turns out your prospect’s goals are being pushed aside by management, follow up with the next question.
6. “How can I help you get the resources you need to sell this to the final decision-maker?”
Determine where your prospect is having difficulty gaining traction with their leader and/or team, then help get internal buy-in. Your sales leader may be more than willing to join a meeting to help you recover the deal.
I remember another sales scenario where I was working with another city government where my company’s headquarters was. A previous salesperson had outright refused to meet with the city’s IT manager because she didn’t want to get involved in a sale with such high stakes for leadership and our company’s relationship with the community. I assured the (now) customer I would arrange whatever resources were necessary, and ultimately the business relationship progressed to a contract.
7. “Is [X goal] no longer a priority for you?”
Tie your product to a tangible goal you and your prospect have discussed. This question moves the discussion away from the actual purchase process and back to the story of how your offering can improve your prospect’s business. You can also follow up to this with the next question.
8. “What happens to your goals if you don’t act now?”
What‘s your prospect’s Plan B? Maybe they have a good one, and in that case your offering may not be a good fit. But making your prospect realize this is the best-fit solution for solving their problems will get you back in the game.
9. “What is your timeline for achieving X goals?”
If your prospect can‘t define this, you’re either talking to them in the education stage or their problems aren‘t severe enough to warrant solving right now. But if they need to hit a goal in the next three months, there’s a clear pain point you can address.
10. “If I call you back next quarter, what circumstances will have changed?”
Maybe your prospect is in the middle of a massive internal initiative and doesn‘t have bandwidth to talk to you right now due to reasons beyond their control. Maybe there’s an economic recession happening, or your prospect could be waiting on a round of funding to come in.
Get your prospect to evaluate whether anything — their budget, their priorities, their goals — will really be different when you speak in the future to determine whether following up will be productive, whether you can accommodate their needs now by altering the deal, or if you just think they’re stalling to back out of the deal entirely.
11. “What’s going to be different next quarter?”
A broader, rhetorical spin on the above response. Empathetically question your prospect’s motivations for brushing you off without coming right out and saying it to better understand their point of view.
12. “How are you performing against your end-of-year goals [as they relate to your product]?”
This is a good way to remind a prospect of why they were talking to you in the first place and why they need your product or service. A prospect who saw absolutely no issue with their current business wouldn’t have taken your call in the first place — so remind them that delaying a deal could make those problems worse.
13. “Here’s the timeline for ROI if we start in X months. Does that work for you?”
Here‘s that sense of urgency again. Remind your prospect that implementing a new product doesn’t produce overnight results. The question here is implicit — can they really afford to wait to buy, or can they agree to come to a middle ground regarding the deal?
14. [Silence.]
Haven’t received a reply to your email request for a debriefing conversation? Send a breakup email acknowledging the “radio silence” and wishing them well in their future endeavors as you work with other prospects and clients.
If you’d rather call to discuss their decision, they may answer out of habit but be unsure how to respond. “I hit the mute button and wait to see how my prospect continues,” said Dan Tyre, our prior Sales Director here at HubSpot.
A prospect with a real objection will ask, “Are you there?” or wait for you to follow up, says Tyre. But, if your prospect starts to waiver more or talk in a stream of consciousness, it‘s a likely sign they’re trying to brush you off.
15. “Have I described [product’s] value in a way that aligns with your requirements?”
“In all my years of selling, nobody’s ever said no,” says Tyre.
Follow up with the next response to really drive this point home.
16. “Which part of [product] do you think could have helped your company the most?”
This question gets your prospect to reiterate their goals and forces them to tell you why your product is a good fit for them, instead of making them listen to you talk about it.
It can also trigger important red flags — for example, if you‘ve been focusing on one area of your product but they bring up an entirely different area, it’s a sign you need to restart the conversation on different terms to re-engage them.
17. “Is it the timing of the investment top of mind, or is there something that is holding this decision back?”
A timing objection may be a smokescreen. To find out what’s really holding your prospect back, ask this question.
The prospect will either say something along the lines of, “Well, I’m worried about [different issue] … ” or, “It’s not a good time to buy because [valid reason] … ”
In both cases, you’ll uncover the true issue, which you can focus on working to resolve.
18. “Why later, and not now?”
Simple responses are sometimes the most effective responses. The prospect is probably expecting you to try and convince them it is a good time to buy, so this response will catch them off-guard (in a good way).
Once they‘ve given you context, you can decide whether they’re in a position to move forward now, move forward later, or to exit through the door marked Status Quo.
I once had a customer ask me to submit a proposal to a complex RFP because they were no longer satisfied with their services from a competitor. I worked with colleagues to write and submit a proposal with high hopes of winning because few companies could meet their requirements.
Following the proposal process, I received a sales rejection email stating that they were awarding their business to the incumbent provider. In other words, they just needed competitive bids to demonstrate they were saving money by renewing their contract despite some technical issues the year prior.
19. “I understand, as another customer of mine was in a similar situation. They ultimately decided to purchase [product] because of [trigger event, challenge, opportunity] and [product’s ROI]. In the past [X amount of time], they’ve seen [Y results].”
Your prospect has shared why they want to wait (see the previous question) — but you think it’s in their best interest to act sooner.
Use a relevant case study or testimonial to make your prospect think twice about holding off on the deal. After you‘ve shown them evidence your solution works, they’ll be eager to reap its benefits for themselves. It helps if your current prospect at least loosely resembles the customer in the case study you are referencing.
20 “Thanks for your honesty — I don’t want to waste your time or mine until you’re ready to make a decision. In the meantime, can I keep in touch with you and share valuable content I find on [prospect’s industry, market, challenge, role]?”
According to Tyre, this response works well with prospects who can‘t buy soon, no matter what you say. (They’ve already exhausted their budget for the year, the company’s strategy is in flux, new legislation will go into effect soon and they need to gauge the implications, and so on.)
Pressuring them to buy will only make them screen your calls and emails. Instead, ask to periodically send them helpful, educational content to support them. You’ll stay top-of-mind while adding value and building up your status as a trusted advisor.
When they are ready to buy, you’ll be the first salesperson they contact.
21. “Sometimes when people say X, it really means Y. Is it safe for me to assume that’s the case here?”
Sales pro Mike Rogewitz saves this question for those objections he just can‘t overcome. It’s Sandler’s negative reverse selling methodology, and it goes something like this:
Prospect Sam: “I’m headed into a meeting; can you give me a call next week?”
Salesperson: “Sam, I’ve tried to connect a few times now. Typically, when this happens, it means this is a low priority for you at the moment. Is it fair for me to assume that’s the case?”
Prospect Sam: “Well if you don’t want to talk to me, then I’d rather not do business with you.”
Salesperson: “Hey Sam, my apologies. I do want to talk, but I feel like I’m annoying you here with all these voicemails and missed calls. I’d hate to keep bothering you if it’s not necessary. It might be best if you reach out when it’s a better time.”
Rogewitz warns, «It should never feel like you’re taking revenge on an uninterested prospect by saying, ‘You always say you’ll call me back, Sam,’ which turns the conversation into an accusation and, sometimes, an argument.»
Rogewitz says that by “keeping things constructive, you’ve put the negativity on yourself instead of on the prospect.»
22. “Are there any large company events or initiatives coming up that would make this a priority?”
If a prospect is unable to commit to your timeline, it might be because their budget is uncertain, a large company announcement is on the horizon, or an important industry event is looming that would make your timeline difficult to implement.
Ask questions like, “The timeline seems to be a stumbling block for us. Is there a company/industry event coming up that might be causing you hesitation to pursue an aggressive timeline?”
If the answer is, “Yes, I’m actually worried my budget might be cut next week,” you know what the objection is and how to proceed. If the answer is, “No, our company has a lot of red tape, and I’m worried this timeline doesn’t reflect that,” you’ve still gotten to the bottom of the real issue and can move forward.
23. “Is there anything I can give you to make a stronger case to [decision-maker]?”
Sometimes, your prospect might be hesitant to move forward simply because they’ve received pushback from their manager or the ultimate decision-maker.
Ask if there’s anything you can do to support your prospect and help them make a stronger case to their boss. This might look like a one-sheet of talking points, a case study, or an informative blog post. A simple “How can I help?” can be the difference between a deal that’s lost versus won.
How to Overcome a Sales Rejection
As in many areas of our personal and professional lives, how we act in response to rejection or failure says more about our character than how we respond to victory.
Here are some guidelines you should follow to react to rejection.
1. Be respectful.
Rejection is a fact of life, but it can still be hard not to take it personally. If you don‘t receive the response you’re looking for via email, don’t bite back, be snide, or act unprofessionally when you respond.
Remember, just because they‘re not on board now doesn’t mean they can’t be further down the line. You want to keep the possibility of a future relationship open — and that starts with remaining respectful in your follow-up.
2. Treat the rejection as an objection or an opportunity.
Further to the point above, you can‘t just disregard your prospect’s decision. They said “no” for a reason, and you have to show you understand where they’re coming from. So when you respond to a rejection email, acknowledge their stance — and let them know you respect it.
If your prospect emails you saying your product or service doesn’t fit their budget, you shouldn’t suggest you are willing to drop your prices to fit their budget. Many companies — HubSpot included — offer tiered pricing based on feature requirements and usage.
If you have already configured a price quote based on the features and usage they need, you may have upgrade paths that would allow the customer to start with certain features and departmental deployments. Getting quick wins in departments like sales, finance, and marketing can reinforce your value-add, which can be scaled out across the business in future phases. The classic Land and Expand strategy worked for me several times. I encourage you to try it.
You might have to temper your response a bit. Try something like this:
“I understand where you’re coming from. Budget constraints are important to keep in mind, and we have tiered and usage pricing models that enable your business to pay for the features, capacity, and benefits you need most. Do you have some time to discuss ways you can achieve your most pressing goals now and scale out across your business as your business grows?”
3. Offer more context.
Sometimes, a prospect sends a rejection email because they‘re not considering the big picture or have a limited understanding of your offering. If that’s the case, it can help to provide additional context or introduce new information that might make them reconsider.
For instance, let‘s say you’re selling a project management solution for small businesses, and your prospect doesn‘t think it would be compatible in their company’s digital ecosystem. You offer:
“I see where you’re coming from. If I were in your shoes, I would want a solution that is interoperable with my tech stack, too. That said, I know your business users communicate via Microsoft 365 and Slack. Our product actually integrates with these applications, and others you mentioned. Can we book time on your team’s calendar so I can show your team how our solution can help your project managers better collaborate from their preferred applications?”
4. Keep it concise.
When you respond to a sales rejection email, you may have to earn the prospect’s trust all over again. They may be disengaged, and already be focussed on their next assignment. You only have a limited time to recapture their attention, but don’t try to address all of their concerns in a long and possibly emotionally charged email reply.
Pro tip: If you can address the concern that puts you in the “rejection box,” leverage video communication and use a tool like Vidyard to demonstrate how you can address their concern. Or better yet, describe a success story where your company has already solved a similar concern for a previous client.
Treat Sales Rejection Emails as Growth Opportunities
Many great salespeople have folders of rejection emails, just as many great writers do. That’s because rejection in sales builds resilience and helps you avoid future pitfalls in future. In other words, rejection is redirection.
Editor’s note: This post was originally published in October 2020 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.