Tweet

Keep Listening After "No!"

Written by: James Chan

Article Overview: How Rick Schilling found his successful, new business after a potential client has just rejected his sales pitch. This article is about the art of keep listening after someone has said "No!" to us.

Keep Listening After "No!"

Nobody likes to be turned down. Rejection can make you feel as if you want to close your eyes and stop up your ears and simply disappear from the face of the earth.

But many times, just after a prospect has declared he doesn~{!/~}t need what you offer, he~{!/~}ll keep talking. As my friend Rick Schilling found out, paying close attention at such moments can be rewarding. That~{!/~}s how he was able to figure out what companies would really be willing to pay him to do.

Rick had worked for one of the Philadelphia region~{!/~}s largest banks for 19 years. In the late 1980s, when banks throughout the US started swallowing each other and spitting out their loyal employees, Rick and many of his colleagues found themselves self-employed, whether they liked it or not.

Rick had held an important position. He knew a lot about banks, the people who run them, and the people who do business with them. He was certain that he could find a way to put all this knowledge to work.

Nevertheless, he hit several dead ends. His first venture was an equipment leasing business. That went sour quickly. Then he tried consulting with small businesses on how to deal with banks, get loans and manage their credit requirements. His experience as a banker had convinced him that many small companies need such help. He was probably correct, but there was a serious problem: His prospective clients weren~{!/~}t willing to pay for what he was offering. Even worse, some of the clients for whom he did work later failed to pay.

Rick was discouraged. He decided to try to go back to a full-time job. But while he was pursuing his false starts, the carnage in his industry had continued. He was competing with many other people much like himself for jobs that could easily disappear the next week.

This is where Rick was when I first met him at an organization of local business consultants. When he told me of his belief that banks had downsized much of their expertise, I suggested that he might be able to sell his services as a contractor, who could take on specific projects or manage certain operations for banks on a contract basis. He still had plenty of good contacts in the industry. He thought it was worth a try.

He had a measure of success in this consultant/contractor role, but it quickly started to wear him down. He spent a lot of time trying to sell banks a highly specific service they often didn~{!/~}t need.

One day, after Rick had made yet another unsuccessful pitch, the prospective client began thinking out loud. A key person in the bank, a woman with highly specialized skills, was about to go on maternity leave. He told Rick that her absence would cause a real problem, and he wondered if there was anyone who might work temporarily, as Rick had offered to do, while she was away.

By this time, Rick knew hundreds of downsized banking professionals. After a few minutes of thought, he was able to come up with several seasoned candidates who could take over this specialized task almost immediately.

He was able to solve this banker~{!/~}s problem without much effort, and that got him thinking. He realized that he knew experienced professionals who could plug into virtually any important slot in the banking industry. Rather than sell just his own specialty, he could sell the services of bankers in all specialties.

Rick~{!/~}s insight seems, in retrospect, to have been a fairly obvious one. Temporary professional staffing and outsourcing have, after all, been among the most notable business trends of the 1990s. Yet in 1995, when Rick began his business, nobody else in his business and regional market had figured it out~{!*~}nobody, that is, who had Rick~{!/~}s knowledge, experience and contacts.

While Rick~{!/~}s earlier efforts had sputtered, Schilling Professional Staffing Inc. took off more quickly than he had ever imagined. The last time I talked to him, Rick had 2500 banking professionals in his database, and was regularly placing them in highly responsible, well-paying, temporary jobs.

The banker who worried about losing his key staffer didn~{!/~}t intend to give Rick a valuable idea. He was merely telling Rick what the bank really needed. Fortunately, Rick was listening.

Related Articles
  The Art of Heart-Listening
  LISTENING SKILLS IN COACHING
  Parents Can Accelerate their Children's Ability to Learn
  LEADERSHIP: ART & SKILL OF LISTENING
  Improve Your Active Listening Skills

Article Tags: 19 years, 1980s, banks, belief that, business consultants, carnage, colleagues, ears, equipment leasing, face of the earth, first venture, friend rick, full time job, leasing business, loyal employees, philadelphia region, prospective clients, rejection, rick schilling, small businesses



Related Forum Posts
Re: How do I find a direct mail list of potential customers - Hi WhyNot, Is it possible there are websites about the Federal Government. It needs to delve into it to find the key person. Listening for once to the news could pinpoint who is really in charge of this department. I wish you wisdom to connect with the right people. Nothing is too difficult, if you put your mind to it. Maybe some one else has a supportive idea.
Re: How to Get Over Your Fear of Failure, Make Every Second Coun - Hi Evan, I've just been listening to a couple of your MTM videos while packing parcels. I especially enjoyed this one on JKR. Listening to stuff like this while packing orders is one of my better ways of "making every second count!"
Ideas on Using Twitter for Business - 1. Build an account and immediate start using Twitter Search to listen for your name, your competitor's names, words that relate to your space. (Listening always comes first.) 2. Add a picture. ( Shel reminds us of this.) We want to see you. 3. Talk to people about THEIR interests, too. I know this doesn't sell more widgets, but it shows us you are human. 4. Point out interesting things in your space, not just about you. 5. Share links to neat things in your community. ( wholefoods does this well). 6. Don't get stuck in the apology loop. Be helpful instead. ( jetblue gives travel tips.) 7. Be wary of always pimping your stuff. Your fans will love it. Others will tune out. 8. Promote your employees outside-of-work stories. ( TheHomeDepot does it well.) 9. Throw in a few humans, like RichardAtDELL, LionelAtDELL, etc. 10. Talk about non-business,
Re: Ideas on Using Twitter for Business - [quote="evieparsons":2o69rd2a]1. Build an account and immediate start using Twitter Search to listen for your name, your competitor's names, words that relate to your space. (Listening always comes first.) 2. Add a picture. ( Shel reminds us of this.) We want to see you. 3. Talk to people about THEIR interests, too. I know this doesn't sell more widgets, but it shows us you are human. 4. Point out interesting things in your space, not just about you. 5. Share links to neat things in your community. ( wholefoods does this well). 6. Don't get stuck in the apology loop. Be helpful instead. ( jetblue gives travel tips.) 7. Be wary of always pimping your stuff. Your fans will love it. Others will tune out. 8. Promote your employees outside-of-work stories. ( TheHomeDepot does it well.) 9. Throw in a few humans, like RichardAtDELL, LionelAtDELL, etc. 10. Talk about non-business,[/quote:2o69rd2a] Hey thanks for these tips. Basically, help others in your market out and build relationships with people. Be someone who gives, not takes. I'll keep them in mind if I go back to social media marketing. I'm currently in the SEO phase of my business.


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Resolving A Conflict Between Two Sales Staffs

The five pillars of internet marketing strategy

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.