How to Respond When Someone Says No

We've all been there, be it in business, in sales or just in life in general, where we have heard the dreaded, "No," and it stops everything from happening. Right? That's exactly what "No" does. It stops us.

One of my favorite quotes is this quote by Eleanor Roosevelt:

"Never let someone tell you no, who doesn't have the power to say yes."

I actually have it posted in my office. I have used this quote as a mantra. When somebody says no, I ask myself,

"Do they even have the power to say yes?"

Because often times, they don't even have that power.

I recently had the pleasure of going to the Department of Motor Vehicles. If any of you have ever spent a minute in the DMV you know what I am talking about. I'm sorry if you work there, but it is NOT my favorite place to be. I walked in and they gave me a ticket and said,

"The wait is only an hour and a half!"

and I said,

"Great! I'll be back."

So left and then came back and when I came back I realized they had gotten through the tickets a little faster than I thought and I missed my number. So I went back up to the counter and I said,

"I missed my number. What do I need to do?"

And they said,

"Oh, good news! I have a new number for you."

I said,

"Great is this a fast track ticket or how does this work?"

And they said,

"Well, the good news is it's only a 45 minute wait now, instead of an hour and a half."

And I thought to myself, "Wow! This is not going to work."

I asked him,

"Is there any way I can get around this?"

And he said,

"No sorry there is nothing I can do for you."

Now again, I remembered that quote and I thought to myself, "Well what else can I do."

So I went over to another counter, talked to another agent and they said,

"Well, if you talk to a manager, maybe they can help you."

So I talked to a manager and they said,

"What is it that you need to do?"

And I said,

"I just need to take care of this registration."

And he said,

"Give me a second. OK, you can go talk to counter 12 just as soon as they are finished with that person."

And no joke, I waited 2 minutes, I paid my registration and I was out the door and done with DMV all because I didn't take that first no as the only answer.

I was recently training a bunch of new people in the office and I said,

"I want you to be unreasonable about demanding results from yourself and for the work that you do."

Because the first time a "reasonable" person hears the word "No", they stop, sit down and waste 45 minutes of their life because they take no for an answer. An unreasonable person figures out what else can they do and how can you get around the situation.

Now, let me be clear, you cant do something illegal or immoral. I didn't hurt anybody just by asking for a manger. But if I would have just taken that first no at face value, I would have wasted another 45 minutes of my time.

So my challenge for you is how can you work to go around when somebody tells you no in a productive way. How can you find the person who can say yes. Figure out a way for that to work in your advantage.

I'd love to know a story about a time when somebody told you no and you figured out a way around it. Let me know in the comment section below.

[Rwrkk]

Instructions unclear, I am now commenting this from a jail cell

[rebeckahsscanner]

I wanted a really short haircut my mum said no
I said i will do it anyways HA

[cutenessoverload]

Me: ay dad can you think about the Netflix thing?
Dad: No
My mind: THEN FUCKU HOW AM I GONNA WATCH MY SERIESES, HUH?

[jillianwalker]

I know people are rude when I say no I meant it

[Julieennf]

Basically I asked my friend for her English answers and she said “No”

[nintendowatermelon]

I told someone if I wanted to invite them to a party thing in a video game. And they just responded with "No"

[therealmr.incredible]

Easy. Stalk them and then cyber bully them 😂

[gmmkeshav]

what if the last person has the power to say yes but he says no then how to recover from that situation in which your heart felt hurt

[optaz]

I asked a girl after talking sometime, Can i get a picture of yours, . She said no, what will be my response to this!

[Emily-mhfb]

My boyfriend said no to are you busy how to I respond to that