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Comment by komali2 | Hacker News Reader

>Almost immediate and right to the point that they wouldn't invest with specific reasoning/metrics behind them.

Was going to comment on the article itself: You shouldn't walk away from a VC without this in hand. Kind of a general sales concept - never take "no" without a good reason.

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A related sales concept is forcing people to say no, even if you don't get a reason for it. This is why some very effective sales folks will follow up essentially forever until they get a definitive answer. It looks like crazy behavior if your mental model is "I brushed him off twice, clearly that is a constructive no, why can't he take the hint", but the rep's mental model is "I close deals all the time after the 18th unanswered followup. If I haven't gotten a no yet, there is insufficient evidence to exclude the possibility that e.g. they're just busy."

That's why when I'm not interested or trying to cancel something I always give a content-less, irrefutable reason.

If you give a specific reason, they will challenge it.

"No, I don't want this product, because I'm not interested."

"I'd like to cancel this credit card, because I don't want to have this credit card anymore."

I've lied to pesky sales reps and telemarketers and told them that I've been diagnosed with terminal cancer and have six months to live. That ends the conversation pretty quickly and they never call back.

"Oh, I'm so sorry Mr Enraged_Camel... Perhaps I can interest you in a new unsecured credit card with a $25k limit?"

"But why don't you want this credit card anymore?"

Because I want to cancel it.

That's fair, but fake reasons are surprisingly effective:

http://jamesclear.com/copy-machine-study

Of course a salesman is more likely to push back than a random bystander, whatever reason you give.

I've had this exact thing happen to me (while talking to customers). Recently had the person answer after the third or fourth follow up and needed more time as they haven't gotten to getting all the sign offs.

That being said, I'm not a telemarketer, I work with high end Integrations and before you get a proposal we've had a few conversations. If the answer is no, I'm respectful of that and I want to know what we can do better next time.

I'll keep following up until I've gotten an answer.

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