As a business owner or manager, you probably get dozens of unsolicited sales pitches each week. The reality is that most of them will end up in your trash folder. However, knowing how to reject a sales proposal politely is better for your company’s image, rather than immediately hitting delete.
Learn how to politely decline a sales offer over email and make it easy for both parties. Let’s discuss.
Reasons for Rejecting a Sales Proposal
There is no shame in saying no. Reasons for rejecting a sales proposal are unique to your business and the offer itself. Your reason for dismissing a sales proposal might resemble one of these.
- The proposal doesn’t meet your needs. Perhaps it doesn’t meet specific criteria, it won’t cater to your business demands, or it just won’t work for your current project.
- You don’t need their offer. This reason is plain and simple. Regardless of how good an offer seems, if you don’t need it, then you don’t need it.
- The offer is out of your company budget. Not having the funds for their sales offer is a legitimate reason to decline it.
Please note that this list is not exhaustive. If something in your gut is telling you to say no, then say no, if only for that reason. Don’t let the salesperson guilt trip you into agreeing to something that won’t serve you.
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How To Reject a Sales Proposal Politely
Now that you’ve internally “cemented” your reasoning, here is how to reject a sales proposal politely and simultaneously keep any doors wide open.
Start with Appreciation
Regardless of how you feel about their pitch, the sender put considerable effort into researching and writing the message. It would be highly impolite not to thank them for their time and energy. Start off the rejection email by expressing gratitude. This step is key to politely declining a sales offer.
Give a Reason
The second step in how to reject a sales proposal politely is giving your reason for declining. Saying no without providing a reason why is just confusing for the salesperson.
If you were in their shoes, you’d want to know the reason you just got rejected. You don’t have to write a novel and give too much information. Be brief and concise, and that should be enough.
Give Suggestions for Improvement
No matter your reason, the rejection email or message should be written in a way that helps the recipient write better proposals in the future. It should point out things they can improve in their offer. Give suggestions for improvement, for example, mentioning how they should have honed in on the product or service benefits.
This might tie into your reasoning why you had to politely decline their sales offer, knocking out two birds with one stone.
Don’t Mention Price
If you want to quickly end the conversation, do not explain your rejection with the price. Trust us. It might seem like a polite way to say no, as the price is usually outside of your control, but it is not an efficient way to squash the conversation.
One mention of price and you will receive several discount offers or promises for negotiation. If you don’t need the offer in the first place, this turns into a time-burn for both parties.
Close It Out
The final step in rejecting a sales proposal politely is closing out the message. End your email appropriately by dropping your contact information and suggesting working together in the future. This might seem counterintuitive, but it leaves the door open for future collaborations. In the business realm, this is simply common courtesy.
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