So they gave me the Nordstrom "NO"...

So they gave me the Nordstrom "NO"...

I have been teaching for years, and help agents understand the motives behind potential client's behaviors.  One of the ways I explain this, it's the Nordstrom "no"

Imagine you walk in to Nordstrom's one afternoon.  You know what you came here for, and you know what you want.  You are looking for the men's section to pick up some new shirts, cuff links, and some socks (or as a gift).  You are in a hurry, since you have to get this done and move on to your next to-do item today.  You park the car, get out, lock it, and walk down two flights of stairs in the parking garage just to get to the Mall.  You have to walk through the mall just to get to Nordstrom's.  You are hungry, and have no idea where anything will be in the store.

As soon as you walk in the store, a nice salesperson walks up to you.  They say with sincerity, "Can I help you find anything?".  And what do you say?  You say "No thanks, just looking".  Even though you have no idea where to find anything, you still told the person you were just looking.  Why is that?  Usually it's because you have so much going on up in your head, that when the person comes to talk to you swat them like a fly until they go away so you can think about what you were looking for and where to look for it.  You probably didn't even here what he wanted, you just wanted them to go away so you could organize your thoughts.

Soon the sales person comes over again and asks if you need any help.  Now you will either tell them no, or you might say yes...  Why is it that this second time you might say yes?  The first time you said no, you just said no to get rid of the annoying fly...  Now you might be more willing to accept the help if you have not found what you are looking for.  But chances are, you will still be deep in thought and will not accept the help.

If you said no, and still can't find what you are looking for, the sales person will eventually come over and ask you again if you need anything.  At this point you will give in and accept the help, or tell him to buzz off and you will never accept the help.   

The point is, your clients might not know what they want, where to find it, or know if they want your help or not...  So you will have to ask several questions when you are prospecting.  Chances are, the people that you are talking to might not really tell you what they are thinking until you actually ask them a second or third question.  So make sure that you have your scripts and dialogues ready so that you will know what to say.

What do you think?  Do you do the same thing?  Do you give up after the first no?