By Ahmed al-Akber/Dubai

Prospects say “No” all the time – it’s an inevitable part of the game of marketing and selling. Leading up to this decision, you may spend a lot of time and effort with them: meeting them and other decision makers within the organisation sometimes multiple times, providing demonstrations, revising proposals, and so on.
All that goodwill has already been built up and has positioned your company in the mind of the prospect is a certain way. But for some reason, they have said “No” this time. What you do now determines whether everything you did up to that point would have been in vain:
1) Find out why. Spending some time to do a review of what went wrong in the sales experience gives you great insight into how you could do things better. Schedule some time with the prospect or, even better, have someone else that’s independent from the sales team do it for you.
Your attitude should be completely objective – this process must be done with an open mind. Always remember that this prospect could provide more business for you later down the line. Your questions should be focused on getting to the bottom of the reason as to why you didn’t get the deal.
You’ll be in a much better position to improve the way you sell – which can sometimes be worth more than what was at stake to win with the prospect with the first place.
2) Keep in touch. You may not be serving the prospect this time, but that doesn’t mean you never will. Don’t immediately move on and forget the prospect – remember, you have invested a lot of time and energy already, so you might as well capitalise on it. Keeping in touch is the best strategy to do this.
Pick up the phone and call them every month or two to see how they are and how their business has evolved. Take them out to lunch. Do they seem happy with the decision they made? Are there other opportunities coming up soon? You could also do something as simple as adding them to your regular newsletter or social media.
Invite them to your events and send them greeting cards during the year. This keeps you top of mind – they won’t forget you because you’ll always be present.
Losing a deal with a prospect can be a wonderful opportunity if you look at it that way.

- Ahmed al-Akber is the managing director of ACK Solutions, a firm that helps companies to improve their marketing and sales results by offering more effective ways attracting customers and significantly better products and services. Ahmed has worked internationally in marketing, sales, and strategic planning at companies such as the Coca-Cola Company, Philip Morris International and Dell. Questions or comments can be sent to Ahmed on ahmed@acksolutions.com