What NOT To Do When A Client Backs Out — A Key Piece of Sales Training
Today I am talking about something that is so important — what NOT to do when a client backs out after originally agreeing to work with you and signing up. Inspiring them to come back is such a key piece of sales training and crucial to getting more clients!
If you are more of a visual person — go straight away to my Facebook group, join if you haven’t, and watch the video!
Also just in case you are thinking — I’m just not getting enough clients — be sure to check out my article on how to get more clients to say YES — there are three elements — REI — Resonance, Education and Inspiration.
Check out the R-E-I article here.
Now, let’s start with what NOT to do when a client backs out. Because these are the easiest mistakes to immediately make when faced with this common, (but alarming!) problem.
Here are my 4 Don’ts: What NOT to do when a client backs out.
First of all: Don’t panic!
So, you get off the phone with a client. They are excited, they give you their credit card and sign up for your program. This is fabulous news! You do a happy dance, you celebrate, call your partner, call your friends, tell everyone the wonderful and exciting news.
Then, sometime later, maybe that day or a day or two later, you get that dreaded email or phone call: your client tells you that they are cancelling and can’t do your program.
In this moment what most of us start to do is panic. You start to think about all that goal setting you did and how you aren’t going to ever hit those numbers or fill your business… Don’t!
The reason I don’t want you to panic is that this is a rite of passage for practically every service practitioner. This happens all the time. Know that you didn’t do anything wrong. There is nothing wrong with you or your services.
Your client had what I call a Haagen Dazs moment.
Let me tell you what I mean — as understanding this component is a key piece to sales training, and without it you’ll struggle to get more clients.
Years ago, when I first starting out, I had a client who signed with me and paid in full. Then she went home, ate two pints of Haagen Dazs ice cream and called me and said, “I can’t do it anymore.” She panicked. And this is what happens, people go home and they panic. They start second guessing themselves, getting afraid.
What you need to do as a practitioner is lean into your client’s fears and backing out, because this is normal.
Now, I say “normal” meaning that it happens. And I get that this sort of thing can derail your goal setting, but it can be fixed! However, if it is happening with every single one of your clients then we may have to start looking at your sales conversations and get you some formal sales training. If it is happening every now and then, welcome to the club!
The second Don’t is: Don’t assume that the client wants to talk to you.
For a lot of you your first instinct when this happens is to shoot back a text or an email saying, “Let’s set up a time to talk.” And then you wait around for the client to get back to you with a time to talk or to set up an appointment.
Realize that a lot of the time that is not going to happen. That is because they do not want to get back on the phone with you. They know that you are going to convince them to join again. And they don’t want that, because then it will bring back the fear.
What happens when someone backs out is there is an upwelling of fear and resistance. They are afraid to step out, to step into something new. And when they back out there is a release of that fear. It is a relief for them. Not a healthy release, but it feels better, it feels safer, and they don’t want to let go of that.
So, what you have to do is call them out of the blue (no appointment, no text). Call them, and keep calling them. You don’t have to leave messages every time. Try a couple of different times during the day. The goal is to get them on the phone so that you can inspire them to come back and work with you.
This leads to the third Don’t: Don’t make the assumption that they are ultimately a ‘No’ and that they don’t want to hear from you.
Often what these situations require is what I call a re-sell conversation, which is such an important part of sales training. You get back on the phone with them and re-inspire them. Remind them of the benefits of working with you, take the time to walk them through all of the fears and the resistance that came up. This might take a while!
I have been on the phone on a re-sell conversation for an hour or two or three. Sometimes it has taken multiple conversations.
Keep in mind, again, that I want you to use your intuition with this one. Sometimes you won’t want to bring them back in. You get the sense that if you have to drag this client back into the program that you are going to have to drag them around. And if you think that is the case, it is okay to let them go.
But in my experience, 90% of the time, when a client backed out because of fear and I bring them back in — they are super excited. They become fantastic clients that sign up again and again. I have some clients that have even admitted to me afterwards that they were waiting for me to come back and bring them back in and inspire them, that they needed that extra push and time.
Don’t be afraid of them getting emotional. This can be a time that can be a major breakthrough for your client. There might be tears, there might be anger. Work with them through it. This can allow the client to move through a lot of fear and resistance before they even get into the program. Ultimately, it will allow them to be more successful in the program.
The final Don’t in what NOT to do when a client backs out is: Don’t forget to prepare your clients.
Knowing that this might happen is a huge asset to you. At the end of the sales conversation, after you have signed up a client and taken their credit card, prepare them and say:
“Look. I want you to know that after you go home tonight you might feel all of these feelings of fear and resistance and you may want to back out. This is completely normal. If it happens to you; here is my cell phone number. I am here for you, text me, call me, let’s work through it together.”
When you give them a route to contact you it will lead to less people going MIA and just not showing up.
I know this is an interesting topic and you might be thinking “I don’t ever want this to happen and why are we even talking about it!” But the truth is that it comes up and you need to know how to win them back so you aren’t losing clients and leaving money on the table. It is a component of sales training that is often left out of most programs.
And in the end, of course I want you to get more clients, and I want you to be armed with this key pieces of sales training so that you know exactly what NOT to do when a client backs out!
My wish for you, as always, is to make a ton of money and leave the world a better place.
I would love to hear from you, so leave me a comment if this has happened to you, and if this article has helped you.
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