Unreasonably Accountable – A common trait of the best sales people

May 8, 2025

I hold myself “unreasonably accountable” for anything that happens to me. I share this not because I feel this makes me better than others. Instead I share this because it’s given me a very positive way to approach challenges that I think can be helpful to others, in general, and sales people specifically. I’ve found that most people who get consistent results in their field, whether it be business, sports, sales, etc., hold themselves to the same standard. I was lucky to have a teacher help me find this trait when I was 16 years old and it has served me well over the years. (More on this later.)

When I describe being unreasonably accountable many think it ridiculous because they hear the word “accountable” and think “responsible”. Webster defines responsible as “liable to be called to account as the primary cause”. If I meant responsible it would mean I cause anything that happens to me. If someone steals my car, I caused that. That is ridiculous. Webster defines accountable as “required to explain actions or decisions to someone” which means I have the privilege of deciding and acting on what happens next. Thus if someone steals my car it’s up to me whether I call the police and insurance company or sulk and don’t do anything to get myself transportation.

Being unreasonably accountable comes to people in different ways through self-reflection and, sometimes, a good kick in the pants. How did I develop this trait at age 16? My dad died when I was 10 and I spent subsequent years feeling sorry for myself. My grades went from A’s to C’s and I was perpetually mad at the world. The two things that made me forget about my situation were sports and music. I played football, wrestled, ran track and martial arts. At age 15, I had a 36-inch vertical leap, benched 255, was fast and could stop on a dime. I had also started playing guitar but athletics was the path to cool at my high school and as a small, Chinese kid, I needed help being cool. Sports became a primary focus.

During football practice, my sophomore year, I took a hand-off, gained a few yards, got tackled and our middle linebacker fell on my left knee. My ACL was severed meaning knee reconstruction and over a year of rehabilitation. The doctors told me to take up golf or swimming because “you’ll never be as fast and if you injure it again we won’t be able to fix it.” There were complications and a second surgery a year later, which meant no more sports for the rest of high school. Yet another excuse to feel sorry for myself but I had a fortunate turn of events.

I had a great social studies teacher, Helen Mason, who saw that I had fallen into a funk. She was a person who said it like it was. She held me after class one day and said, “Look Mister, you can’t change what’s already happened but you control what happens next. So what, if you can’t play football. You’re too small anyway and, let me tell you, football doesn’t make you as cool as you guys think.” She went on to say she had heard me play guitar and had a lot of other things I could focus on rather than feeling sorry for myself. She also said, “Nobody else will care if you don’t.” The kick in the pants I needed.

That kick helped me self-reflect and realize that I had to get busy pursuing other things and I had a team to help me. I had my mother, aunts, uncles, friends and teachers, who wanted to help, but they couldn’t until I wanted the help. What happened next was totally up to me. Over many years that realization has turned into what I now call being unreasonably accountable and as I said earlier, sales people who consistently create great results, have this foundational trait.

Incredibly successful sales people quickly find other paths when the unexpected blocker happens. They don’t look for someone to blame and they don’t look for excuses. They treat setbacks as lessons rather than losses. The only reason they look back is to understand what happened and why, so they avoid the same mistakes. From those lessons, they determine the best next actions, who else needs to help and how to get the win.

Being unreasonably accountable puts the problem squarely on my shoulders and doesn’t allow me to think what others should or could have done. It forces me to default to the questions “what could I have done differently and what do I do next?” I more quickly think through the problem and take actions that are within my control. Incredibly successful sales people, I’ve had the privilege of working with, don’t waste any time trying to assign blame, even when it’s easy to do and might even be justified. Instead, they jump into action to change the course towards a win.

Being unreasonably accountable has served me well over my 30+ years of selling and you might be practicing it already. I’m positive it can be a great tool for you.

©2013 Rick Wong – The Five Abilities™ LLC

Customer Relationships: Being Dressed Down Can Dress You Up

May 8, 2025

No matter the strength of customer relationships, there will always be times when decision-makers are uncomfortable or unhappy about how things are going. Their unhappiness can be specific or just general discomfort. Sometimes, they just need to vent.

That venting can come in the form of complaints, or angry rants. Oftentimes the critique is unfiltered and can seem very personal. You might hear problems attributed to you—appropriate or not. No matter what you hear, the best you can do is to listen. The worst you can do is to be defensive and/or make excuses.

(Note: There will be time for calm discussion but not when the customer is too angry to hear you.)

Remember that decision-makers count on you to make them right. They choose you to help them succeed and when the unexpected happens, their peers hold them accountable. When challenged, even the strongest customer relationships can devolve into anger which uncovers more personal motivations. When you listen, you learn about those motivations and you communicate that you’re standing with them.

Experience

I had cold-called Montana State Credit Union four times, asking for their president. I got no, both polite and angry. On my fifth attempt with the president’s assistant I heard a man yelling, “Is that the @#$%*@ check guy again? Put that @#$%*@ through!”

The president railed about how I was wasting their time and how nobody in Montana wanted our checks. That I needed to find a real job, if that was possible. He said I had no value and no clue about his challenges. He said, “I need members to get more loans and credit cards. Unless you can do that, stop calling. Got it?” In seconds, my twenty-three-year-old naïve voice said, “If I can help your people get more loans and credit card accounts, would you buy our checks?”

He went silent and then angrily said, “I should let you try to prove how ridiculous you are.” I offered views on why people are uncomfortable with selling and how our training addressed that. Long story short—the president agreed to one training.

(Another note: We were trained to conduct day-long trainings in person. I wasn’t budgeted for travel so I had to do the training on a con-call and they gave me 90 minutes on a Saturday.)

Nobody in Montana was happy to be at work on Saturday but a nearby Dunkin’ Donuts agreed to deliver to the credit union if I bought six dozen donuts and coffee. That calmed emotions, slightly.

I conducted an abbreviated session and their supervisor agreed to a follow-up call in two weeks. Surprisingly, the next Friday the president called saying his people were already selling more services. He asked for another training. He also mentioned our training to his peers in the Montana credit union community.

In less than a year, Montana went from no business to our checks being available at almost half the credit unions in the state. I did Saturday morning trainings about twice a month. They weren’t buying checks; they were buying more new loans and credit card accounts, as vented by the credit union president. The checks were simply how they paid us.

I eventually met that president at a convention in Valdez, Alaska. I was managing our booth and he introduced himself saying, “I wanted to shake the hand of the pest who helped us sell more services.”

Customer Relationships: Being dressed down can dress you up.

Treat Everyone Like A Customer

May 8, 2025

“Treat everyone like a customer because you may need their help someday and everyone wins when they want to help you.” Lew Platt, former CEO, Hewlett-Packard

This was a key cultural component of The HP Way created by founders Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard. Platt often conveyed it, in his words. This culture was applied both internally and externally. Whether the person was a cafeteria worker, a customer engineer, or the CEO, we were taught to treat them like a customer. The same was true with external colleagues, whether they did business with us or not. This culture promoted relationships that would allow us to help and be helped when needed.

Do you treat everyone like a customer? Do you create relationships where people want to help you? Are you developing connections where people count on you and where you count on them? Here are four self-checks:

Are you unreasonably accountable?

When something goes wrong and the customer asks for help, the best salespeople try to help even if the problem wasn’t caused by them. They don’t blame or shame. Instead, incredibly successful salespeople are driven by the opportunity to help.

Are you predictable?

Many people prefer predictability over wild creativity. Certainly, they want the best ideas and solutions but predictability is what allows a customer to delegate actions with high confidence that they’ll get what they expected. The best salespeople deliver as expected or will predictably communicate why and how another option is better.

Are you anticipating challenges?

Experienced sellers anticipate hurdles and communicate them to the customer well in advance to avoid surprises. Even good surprises can be troublesome if not anticipated. I worked a project for a manufacturing company where the deployment of our hardware and software was completed a week early. We were on the critical path and the customer team that was dependent on us wasn’t ready. What we thought was a benefit ended up embarrassing that customer team which resulted in a disruptive trust issue.

Are you communicating good and bad news equally?

Good news is easy—bad news is hard. Customers see higher value when you proactively deliver bad news before they learn of it from others. During the same project referenced above, another critical path item was for us to train factory workers on the new applications. We underestimated how much the workers were attached to their old system resulting in unexpected time helping them understand why their management made the change. To avoid surprising management, we used a project team meeting to update everyone about the challenges, well in advance of the due date. We were rewarded by an accountable executive who personally helped us sell the solution to her employees.

Use these four simple self-checks to help you always treat everyone like a customer.

Seven essentials of a No Surprises culture

May 8, 2025

Customers are business people – they know that change happens. They know that plans are modified. Changes don’t make customers question our RELIABILITY – surprises do – whether good or bad.

Wall Street is an example. When companies announce earnings that are worse than expected their stock can understandably see a sell-off. But the same is true when earnings are much better than expected. Why? Investors want corporate leaders to know their business well enough to accurately forecast results such that they create a no surprises culture. When performance far exceeds forecasts, investors question management’s knowledge of their business. These are surprises that increase investor’s risk, which can reduce perceived stock value.

Customers are investing in us and, like Wall Street, they hate surprises. What are the essentials for creating a no surprises culture?

Be unreasonably accountable – Customers expect us to be there when the unexpected happens. Whether we caused the situation or not, a powerful tool for earning lifelong customers is to take accountability for the best next actions that ensure the customer’s successful use of your products and services.

Be appropriately responsible – No matter how hard we try, we make mistakes that cause unexpected situations. Products don’t perform as expected, we don’t hit milestones, our work causes issues for other suppliers, etc. When that happens we need to overtly accept responsibility and show that we have a course of action to address the issue. This doesn’t mean we take responsibility for others’ mistakes.

Be predictable – Early in a relationship we often want to be overly responsive in ways we can’t maintain. By doing so, we set unrealistic expectations that make us unpredictable over time. Under-promise and over-deliver remains a necessary adage.

Always anticipate – Respond to the customer’s needs before they ask. When we’ve taken the time to understand our customer, their industry and how we can serve them, we often are better positioned to foresee potential problems. The issues can range from products to politics, and we often gain a different view from the outside versus what our customers perceive from the inside.

Humbly communicate good news – We absolutely want credit for things we do well, but we get more credit when we allow the customer to find it themselves. My dad used to say, “If you have to ask for recognition, you don’t deserve it.” I’ve also found that things we consider to be good performance are often things the customer just expects. Asking for recognition is like asking the customer to thank you for allowing them to buy your product.

Overtly communicate bad news – We always want to be the first to communicate bad news about our performance. It shows that we’re going to be proactive about finding the solution, and it eliminates the opportunity for the competition to mischaracterize our issues. If the competition raises something to the customer that we haven’t already communicated, then it’s a bad surprise. If we communicate it first, it’s old news.

Being dressed down will dress you up – Customers are people too, and when we make mistakes they may want to blow off steam. The benefit is that customers are often most honest when they’re angry. This is when we get the opportunity to deeply understand what is most important to them so that we can better anticipate in the future. When we can be dressed down without falling apart or becoming defensive, the customer feels listened to and after they cool off we’ve gained additional respect that dresses us up. We gain respect because we simply listened and learned, in a heated situation.

When a no surprises culture becomes habit, we’re well on the path to winning lifelong customers – the lifeblood of enterprise selling.

Win lifelong customers by being unreasonably accountable

May 8, 2025

It’s critical that we understand the practice of RELIABILITY as it regards sales specifically and business in general, on our way to winning lifelong customers. It’s doubly crucial that we guard against the misconceptions that exist around this very important ability.

First we need to look at how people respond to the notion of being accountable for whatever the best next action entails – no matter what. What I often observe, when raising this ABILITY, is that people reject it. What I’ve learned after many years of managing people in the disciplines of sales and marketing, is that people hear accountability but they think responsibility. They respond negatively because they’re defending themselves from being blamed for an undesired result. Let’s define the two words in the context of sales.

Responsibility – Being responsible for something in business has two meanings. The present-tense is that we own the performance of an assignment, project or team. The past-tense is that we were the cause for something that happened.

Accountability – Being accountable for something in a business sense means that we own whatever happens next. We are in charge of the best next action. Whether we caused the problem or not we step up to own the solution.

Rob is one of the most customer-centric people I’ve had the privilege to work with. His nature, in life and in business, is to be unreasonably accountable.

Early in his career, Rob worked for a company that offered component manufacturing and supply chain services to a myriad of technology companies. His customer was a prominent computer manufacturer and he was competing for their business with a deeply entrenched incumbent service provider. In this case Rob had convinced the decision-maker to trial his company’s storage devices and was having an initial order shipped from Raleigh, North Carolina, to the customer’s location in Norfolk, Virginia. Ironically, because the incumbent was managing the project Rob was, in effect, delivering product to be used by his competitor.

As luck would have it, the shipment of the storage devices was damaged in transit. Rob, of course, immediately got on the phone with the project manager (his competitor) in the hopes of understanding what happened so he could determine his best next action for resolving the problem. The competitor was unclear about what had happened and was generally unhelpful. Rob hung up the phone with no more clarity about the situation than before he made the call.

Rob had a manager who instilled in him a lifelong discipline that “if you have a problem, get to the problem.” After brief consideration about how important it was to satisfy this prospective lifelong customer, Rob decided to get to the problem. He was able to get co-workers to complete tasks he had been assigned and he got in his car to drive the 184 miles to Norfolk, Virginia, so he could see firsthand what had happened to those storage devices. He not only was able to resolve the issue but he demonstrated the act of being unreasonably accountable to the decision-makers. That best next action led to Rob winning the business and, more importantly, his actions led to winning lifelong customers.

Being unreasonably accountable is about taking the best next action when our customer needs help. When our customer has a problem, whether we caused it or not, if we’re capable of helping – we do it. We step up because we want to help our lifelong customers – not because we want accolades but because we’re unreasonably accountable.

RELIABILITY, from the start, earns us lifelong customers

May 8, 2025

We were approaching an important product launch that we hoped would address customer issues created by our current product. We had identified key customers who we needed to win before the launch in order for us to start with momentum. One of those customers was in Europe and their CEO had been very public about the negative experiences his company had had with our current product and our lack of support. It was necessary that we talk to him face to face so we got on a plane to see if we could rectify the situation.

The GM who managed the global relationship with this customer scheduled a 9:00am meeting. We arrived the night before, fine-tuned our agenda and showed up at the customer’s office at 8:45am the next day. At 9:45am the CEO still had not sent his assistant to escort us in. We had asked the receptionist three times if it would be better if we rescheduled, but she said no and that he would be available soon.

At 10:00am we decided to leave. We told the receptionist that we would reschedule and turned to walk out. We got half way across the lobby when she said, “He’s ready now.” We turned and one of his VPs was coming out of the elevator to take us up to the CEO’s conference room.

10 minutes elapsed before the CEO entered. We stood, shook hands and, as we sat, the CEO started a monologue about how bad we were and how much we had hurt his business. During his tirade he posed questions and, while we tried to engage, it was clear they were rhetorical. Even more clear was that he wanted to vent and to see us sweat. Given many of his observations were accurate, and given that we were in suits on a warm, humid day – he saw us sweat.

At around 10:30am the CEO paused and my co-worker said, “We clearly need to do better but there’s nothing we can do today to prove that we’ll be reliable going forward. All we can do is show you.” We got up, thanked him for his time, reached out to shake hands and he said, “But the past doesn’t mean we can’t work together in the future.” He asked us to sit down and we had a very productive conversation for the next hour.

To win lifelong customers we need to earn:

VISABILITY – Being seen in the right way, by the right people, at the right time
CREDABILITY – Having superior knowledge about your industry and that of your customer’s
VIABILITY – Business that fits the needs and abilities of both the seller and customer
CAPABILITY – Delivering on the personal reasons people make business decisions
RELIABILITY – Being accountable when the unexpected happens

On that day we were good on all areas except for RELIABILITY. The CEO was very angry about our lack of support in past dealings. Our goal was to take the first step towards earning RELIABILITY with that CEO, and we did.

Many people think RELIABILITY is something you focus on only after you’ve won the business. In enterprise selling where our job is to earn lifelong customers, we must earn RELIABILITY before we can win any business. On that day, RELIABILITY was demonstrated by being on time, waiting, and listening, while he told us why we lost his business before and no matter the discomfort, we remained eager to engage. We gave him reason to believe that he could do business with us again.

RELIABILITY – Being there when the unexpected happens because it always will.

The Best Sales Ability for Creating Repeat Business

May 8, 2025

We live in a city that is prone to power outages. It’s just east of Seattle, Washington on top of a hill with a southwestern exposure. The houses on the edge of town, referred to as “the ridge”, have no protection against the wind. Even light winds can cause power outages.

It was a Saturday in late October and the first big storm of the fall/winter season was upon us. Gusts exceeded 50 mph and, after a few flickers, the power went out. It was about 8:00pm, and when we woke on Sunday morning, we were still without power. Yet another fall day in this Seattle suburb without power DURING A SEAHAWKS GAME! Of course.

We left for church at 10:00am hoping that power would be restored when we returned. On the drive home we took in the storm’s impact – debris was everywhere with downed trees about every 50 feet. Slippery autumn leaves were everywhere, so much so that my tires skidded a bit when turning. It was dangerous to drive, let alone walk.

After the brief tour of our neighborhood we drove to our street and there, in front of the house, was a familiar blue pick-up truck. Rose Dalsin, the owner of that truck, has shaped and cared for our yard for almost 15 years, so it was no surprise that she was there. Yes it was Sunday, but Rose knew her customers would need help clearing the debris from pathways now blocked by wet leaves and/or fallen branches. RELIABILITY is something we get from Rose even when we’re not expecting it.

RELIABILITY – Being there “when” the unexpected happens.

Along with her incredible knowledge of horticulture, Rose’s RELIABILITY is the natural sales skill that attracts extreme loyalty from her customers. It’s the reason she still owns our garden and why we’ve confidently recommended her to others for almost 15 years.

In the world of B2B sales, it’s guaranteed that the unexpected will happen. It’s also a certainty that unexpected occurrences will challenge the customer’s faith in your ability to deliver on commitments. Fixing the problem is always the best next action, but that isn’t always immediately possible. When this happens, the best sales ability is to practice consistent RELIABILITY – being there “when” the unexpected happens.

When the sales person is there to help coordinate a response or to inform the customer on process and progress, it offers comfort in place of the uncertainty that would be there otherwise. Uncertainty leads to doubt, and doubt leads to lost repeat business.

RELIABILITY also builds a very valuable savings account of trust. When salespeople show up, when they know the customer is unhappy, that’s an action of RELIABILITY. Those actions are etched into the memory of decision-makers in the form of trust. With trust, little things are just little things. Without trust little things can become big concerns. Trust grows when you’re there when the unexpected happens.

In Rose’s case, she’s sometimes late or just decides the yard doesn’t need work. But when work is needed, or when the unexpected happens, she’s always there. She’s proven her RELIABILITY to us and all her customers by being there when the unexpected happens. Thanks Rose!

Executive decision makers buy from teammates not vendors

May 8, 2025

I bought my first brand new car when I was 19 years old. I was working three summer jobs, which included playing in a band, and I needed a hatch back to carry my gear. Two days after driving the car off the lot the radio stopped working. I drove back to the dealership and approached the sales person who sold me the car. He stuck out his hand and said, “Which car can I help you buy?” He did not remember me and after telling him my problem he asked, “Are you sure you bought the car here?”

Are you feeling your gut wrenching because you have had a similar experience? Unfortunately, most of us have been here. Imagine that this is not a few thousand dollar personal purchase but instead a few million-dollar, business purchase, made on behalf of your employer. Even worse, imagine that you own the company. How does your stomach feel now?

Executive decision makers only buy from people and companies who are certain to be there “when” the unexpected happens. They are not just buying a product or service. They are buying a teammate.

How do we know when we are a teammate?

Coffees, lunches and social events are nice but they do not mean you are part of the team. You are a teammate when you earn the opportunity to weigh in on decisions that do not directly affect your sales. When the customer considers you an advisor rather than just someone who wants to sell something, you are a teammate. To get here you must proactively provide the help with no expectation of reciprocation. Incredibly successful sales people are addicted to helping others so this behavior becomes instinctive over time.

I have had multiple opportunities to contribute to my customer’s business in ways that did not directly affect my sales to them. Examples:

I participated in multiple interview loops for sales and marketing candidates.
I had multiple instances where I reviewed remote sales operations because I had more experience in certain parts of the world than the customer’s headquarter team.
I acted as a secret shopper for multiple customers.
I gave proactive feedback on customer’s retail displays even when they do not include my software or services.
I am currently a member of advisory boards for past customers.

Becoming a teammate is true consultative selling because your advice becomes part of the value you represent. When it comes time to buy customers will more readily buy from a teammate than a vendor. Be a teammate, not a vendor.

Demonstrate RELIABILITY always; You will sell more… always

May 8, 2025

In regards to business, many refer to RELIABILITY as something that is only applicable after the sale is closed. The following are common ways people think of RELIABILITY.

Product/service reliability – Customer support – Training – Product/service updates – Product durability

While these are things often attributed to reliable companies, in B2B selling, a reliable sales person is often the difference that helps your company sell more. Demonstrating RELIABILITY by doing the little things superbly from the very first sales call onwards is critical to getting that first win and the ever-important repeat business.

What are the little things that earn sales people their RELIABILITY check early in the sales process?

Respond to emails in a timely fashion even when you don’t have a response. Customers are certain to ask questions you do not know the answer to. Don’t wait until you have the answer before getting back to them. A quick, “Thanks for your email. Let me research your question and get back to you with a complete answer within 48 hours.” With this reply, you’re letting the customer know you heard them; you’re taking immediate action and allowing them to plan for when you’ll get them the answer.
Always be on time for meetings. I had a football coach who used to say, “If you aren’t five minutes early you’re late.” We had to run laps if we weren’t suited up and on the field, five minutes before practice started. While I’ve never had a customer make me run laps, I’ve had them make me wait long enough to make it clear they weren’t happy with me being late.
Own up to mistakes right away. Customers are people too, and people generally understand if you proactively identify and correct your mistakes before anything bad happens. In fact, customers are even more forgiving when you note mistakes before they recognize the error. It says you are accountable and that you are prioritizing the customer’s success.
Be there when the customer is unhappy with you. This is a close cousin to owning up to mistakes. Customers, like any person, sometimes want to air their concerns with you. Never shy away from this opportunity. Customers are often the most clear and honest when they are unhappy or angry. Showing good, responsive listening skills, when the customer is unhappy can be the best proof of reliability to demanding customers.
Show up when things don’t go your way. Whether you sell for a big corporation or a small start-up, a lost sale is simply a current opportunity that becomes a future opportunity. If you disappear upon losing the sale, then that opportunity is likely lost forever. At minimum, you might get ideas from the customer on how to improve, but it’s important that you let them lead that discussion to ensure they want to talk. At maximum, you want to emphasize your RELIABILITY in the event they decide to look elsewhere, in the future, to address their needs.

Demonstrate RELIABILITY always; You will sell more… always.

Three things to KNOW, When you have to say NO

May 8, 2025

No company can be all things to all customers.

Therefore, you’ll have to say no and, if your company has a lot of unique customers, you will say no way more than you’ll say yes. To be an incredibly successful sales person, you have to be able to say no in a way that maintains CREDABILITY, VIABILITY and RELIABILITY for you and your company.

ACE the NO to win both now and in future opportunities because the door stays open even when the customer doesn’t get everything.

Acknowledgement

Show that you care about how the decision will affect your customer personally and commercially. Ask the customer how this will affect them. Call on your own business and/or personal experiences to truly show empathy.

Comprehension

Show that you clearly understand how your company’s decision will affect your customer’s company, both good and bad. The customer wants to confirm that you are viewing them and representing them with the right knowledge. A good tool is to recall past bad experiences with the customer or similar issues with other companies.

Explanation

Above all else, clearly tell the customer no. Seems basic but even the most experienced senior executives, have difficulty saying no. Be specific on why your company made the decision. Customers have customers so they’ve been in your shoes and, while they may be angry, they will empathize with you if they fully understand the reasons for your decision.

A few years ago we were launching a new product that many partners wanted to include in their devices. It was something we hadn’t done before and we felt there was high risk to partners if we divided our engineering resources across too many devices so we chose to stick with the current device roadmap. Unfortunately, we had a long-time partner who didn’t have a device in the mix and wanted to be considered.

Given the prominence of the partner’s brand, we felt it prudent to at least have the discussion. All the stakeholders, at the highest levels in both companies, decided it would be appropriate to meet. The partner’s division President and his team scheduled a trip to Seattle for two weeks out.

As the days went by it became clear that we weren’t ready to add another device. We couldn’t guarantee the partner’s readiness for launch because we had no additional engineering resources to apply full time, to help the customer prepare.

A few of us had long-standing relationships with the EVP. I had just been interviewed by the Wall Street Journal, at his request, for an Op-Ed piece on his new role, so we decided it was most appropriate for me to deliver the no. This was on a Friday and he was due in Seattle on Monday, so I called him immediately.

He was in Asia so I called his mobile and left a voice mail. I asked him to call when he was awake and said that I thought he should cancel his trip to Seattle. I also emailed and texted him. He texted me that evening when I was at a baseball game. I texted back that I’d find a quiet place and call him back. (Note: It was Boston playing Seattle, which meant there really was no quiet place.) I found a spot in a stairwell where I had good reception and I made the call.

Explanation

I started by telling him that after a lot of consideration we just didn’t believe that we could help them be successful with the upcoming launch. I told him about the engineering challenges and the uncertainties that come with that. The answer wouldn’t change by him coming to Seattle.

Comprehension

I reminded my partner of times in the past when we marched forward with products that neither of us were ready to launch and how badly that worked out for both companies. We also talked about their cost to build the device even without the complexities of dealing with software customization.

Acknowledgement

I asked him how this would affect him personally. He was new in role and I knew he would take heat over our decision. He shared some things I won’t share here but what he needed was a clear, credible way to explain this to his new team and his CEO. We spent the rest of the call building his speaking points.

(Note: You need to cover all components of ACE but the order and way you do it is situational.)

To be clear, the executive was still quite frustrated. However, after that 45-minute call he was comfortable that our decision was reasonable. He thanked me for keeping him from flying and we were able to maintain our relationship.

Every incredibly successful sales person learns how to say NO while maintaining CREDABILITY, VIABILITY and RELIABILITY. It’s a necessary skill.

Learning how to ACE the NO is one of the things you’ll learn from The Five Abilities™ sales methodology. Let us know if we can help.

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©2013 Rick Wong – The Five Abilities™ LLC

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