How to politely refuse anyone without saying no?

As much as we don’t want to say “NO” There comes a time when we are unable to meet the customer request and there is no other way but to say ‘No’

Customer are important to us. We can’t afford to loose them So we have to say ‘no’ in such a tactful manner that it becomes lighter and not disrespectful at all.

There are many situations in the sales process, where you are not able to provide what the customer asks for, some times its an invalid request, some times it’s a stupid question and some times its just not available with you. All of these situations request you to use “No” word to refuse the customer. But there are many technical ways to turn around the conversation.

How to say "No" to the customer without actually saying "NO"

How to say “No” to the customer without actually saying “NO”

How to politely decline a customer request samples:

No, I can’t give you reimbursement.

I wish I could give you reimbursement, but what I CAN do is ETC.

This collection is not available in red.

This Collection is available in “white and Black”. Which suits you well, but if you are specifically looking for red, that collection is a good match.

Kids messing with the toys. Don’t say ‘no you should not do it.

Say ‘let me show you how to play’

Don’t say, ‘Not today.’

Say “maybe some other day?”

A toddler ripping off a flower, Don’t say, ‘don’t rip them off’

Say “when you hurt a flower, it hurts there feelings as they are also living beings”

A step by step guide to refuse a customer:

The word “No” is directly related to a negative emotion, bad impression or hopelessness. but all you want to do in the field of sales is to redirect a customer from something which is not possible to do, to something which may be possible if the customer is  willing. this also gives you a chance to sell more because in this method you are not only “ not refusing the customer” but also taking a chance to sell something else. But How do you say no respectfully? or graciously?

 Below is the step by step guide to understand the customer’s intent and try your luck.

Understand properly what the customer wants?: 

Sometimes it may happen that the customer is very flexible to the colour or shape of the item. For example a customer was looking for a backpack, preferable colour was black, that’s why he asked you a question; Do you have a black backpack? if you said no, this is the end of the conversation and you’re letting the customer go. who knows that if you may have offered another colour the customer may have  bought the item 

Always  offer an alternative: 

Make it your habit to offer alternatives to anyone’s request when you cannot fulfill their request. Even if the success ratio is below 25% you are basically increasing 25% of sales which was never going to happen just because you may have said “No” to the customer.

Emotions are effective: 

As you saw in the above example, if somebody asked you for a meeting, instead of saying “not today”, you replied “maybe tomorrow”. what you did was not only to take care of the refusal but also you took care of their emotions. If you are trying to give alternative options to the customers sometimes customers develop an emotional bond with you and buy just because of that Bond. 

How to say no to customers' requests or demand email?

How to say no to customers’ requests or demand email?

The rules with emails are the same as the rules based face to face. Being polite in an email is anyone is here then being polite face to face. you get all the time in the world to type a message, revise it so many times before you send it. apply the same step-by-step which is mentioned about and you are good to go

How to say no to a customer asking for a discount?

One of the Most important things Is to say “no” to those customers who were asking for a discount. and of course you cannot give any alternative options You can’t give any discounts,  and neither cashbacks.

The best way to answer this question is to take the conversation towards the value of your product. you can simply say, I understand you like to have a discount, but why do you think it does not deserve the price which is on the tag. Customer may give you a few certain objections which you can then handle by explaining the value factors and unique selling points of the product. Normally when the customer says the product is too expensive it’s just that they don’t understand the value of the product.

This is also a buying signal, Point to note is, the customer is interested in the product but they just don’t feel like giving this amount of money, easy for you is to take the customer and clarify his doubts and make a sale.

 I hope this clarifies all of your concerns if you have any other questions write down in the comment section and I’ll be very happy to answer all of them. 

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