What to Do When a Customer Says No (Sales Tips for Painting Contractors)

Jon Bryant: Hey everybody, welcome back to Price Sell Paint. I'm here with Michael Murray as always, and I'm excited to chat about what we're going to be getting into today, which is when customers say no and what to do. I don't know about you Michael, but I've been told no a few times in my life.

Michael Murray: A few thousand no's over the years.

Jon Bryant: And you know, when I first started, it was pretty hurtful. Now I really believe it's the start of a conversation — it's really where sales starts. Today's podcast is going to be dedicated to sales reps. We're going to go through a bunch of very specific scenarios that we've experienced over our careers and dig into this. I see a lot of sales reps who struggle with no and understanding it.

Michael Murray: Shout out to the sales reps listening, probably driving from one appointment to another. If this episode helps them get a little bit closer to winning that next job, I think we're providing some value. That's our hope.

Jon Bryant: Absolutely, that's the goal today. Throughout my sales experience, one of the most difficult things for me to get a handle on was that moment of rejection — the moment of feeling like the person doesn't want to work with you, and learning how to make that comfortable for everybody involved.

I think about the times I'd finally get a customer on the phone after calling three or four times. They'd jump into it like, "Jon, we loved you, it was great" — and you could tell they were nervous too. People don't like dealing with conflict. They'd say "we're going with somebody else" and I'd be like, "Okay, okay, bye." Just get out as fast as I could.

Michael Murray: "Have a good life, bye!"

Jon Bryant: And then I'd chalk it up to the customer being a bad fit — blame the customer. How was your journey? Were you always good with that moment?

Michael Murray: No, not at all. Left to my own devices, I'm a people pleaser who cares way too much about what other people think. I'm not a very direct person, and those things combined yield a lot of poor results in sales. I've done a lot of learning, a lot of reading, and being introspective. Now I think I'm a little better at it. But I struggled for a very long time, and that manifests in unexpected ways.

Jon Bryant: Like not being able to pay your mortgage — those kinds of things.

Michael Murray: Exactly. It's interesting — we actually have a handful of new sales reps right now and I always start training with the mental aspects of sales. Sales can be physically hard. You're driving around, it can be lonely, going from one appointment to the next, meeting a lot of people for an hour and that's it.

One of the ways I like to talk about the mental side is this: a lot of sales reps get really excited when they make a big sale. The problem is that dopamine hit — your mind says "this is good, I want more of this." The opposite side of that coin is feeling pain when you get a no. If you get too excited when you get a yes, you're inherently going to be too sad when you get a no.

As opposed to just playing a role — when I get yeses, great. When I get nos, great. My job is to get closure. My job is to follow the system. I give everybody my best effort, and the end results are not indicative of who I am as a person. Because if they are, what happens — and how it manifested for me — is we just avoid nos. And avoiding nos doesn't mean getting yeses. It means not getting any answers.

The best sales reps are going for 100% closure. Instead of focusing on whether you're winning or losing, just focus on getting closure. Because if a no hurts, you're going to follow up less, not ask for the sale, hand out a lot of estimates — you'll be an estimating machine. But your win percentages are going to be way lower because of it.

Jon Bryant: And because of that, you start chalking things up to the customer's problem — the customer was the issue, the price was the issue. You stop getting the information you need to make proper decisions in your business. You just assume price wins or the customer was a jerk.

Michael Murray: Right — every customer makes every decision based on price.

Jon Bryant: Never, never, never. What we see all the time is customers telling you your price was too high. One, they're probably lying — they're saying that because it sounds nice. It doesn't sound like "we just don't really like you" or "we didn't have a good vibe" or "we don't trust your company to come into our home." Most polite people aren't going to say those things because they don't want the confrontation.

So they're either never going to return your call, or they'll tell you at the appointment, "Yeah, everything was great, you were wonderful, we'll get back to you" — and now you're in voicemail hell and you're never going to hear from them again.

Michael Murray: Or they'll tell you your price was too high, which again isn't necessarily their real reason for not going with you.

Jon Bryant: Yeah, and they'll probably do it by text or email. A no is a confrontation point, and it's just as uncomfortable for them as it is for you. Both of you want to get out of that situation as fast as possible.

I think it would be helpful to go through some specific scenarios. A no in person at the estimate, a no by text or email, a no by phone call, and then the bonus one — the ghosting no, where they just don't want to tell you because it's too uncomfortable. Want to start with in person?

Michael Murray: Let's do it.

Jon Bryant: So you're at the home, you've done the estimate, you have a price, you're doing it on the spot — shout out to PaintScout — and you present it to the customer. You say, "Mr. and Mrs. Smith, here's the price," and you see their face just melt. They say, "Yeah, that's just too high." What do you do?

Michael Murray: I cry a little and immediately offer a 50% discount. No — don't do those things. When I was younger I might have. But the first thing I would do is thank them.

To me, this all starts at the beginning of the appointment. Early in the first 10 minutes, I let the customer know that I'm more than okay with a no. We do too many estimates to paint for everybody. We're probably going to be one of the higher quotes you get. We do things a certain way. If we can work together, that would be awesome, but my job is to help you make a good buying decision — whether that's with me or anybody else. The only thing I ask is that whenever you make that decision, just let me know. I will respect your no.

If you say things like that at the beginning, you have a better chance of avoiding that ghosting voicemail hell. So at this point, because I said that earlier, I'm going to say thank you — thank you for letting me know. Then I'm going to ask to talk a little more about it. I want to make sure I didn't make a mistake, and I'm going to take ownership.

I'll say something like, "Let me make sure I heard you correctly — the price is higher than you expected?" And they'll say yes. Now there are a couple of paths. Is it the price or is it the payment? Maybe they actually love it but just don't have it saved up. Maybe I didn't do a good job explaining that we have monthly payment options, 0% interest for two years — they could afford it that way.

More likely though, it comes down to scope of work. My fault. Maybe I made a mistake. I asked you a lot of questions at the beginning — you told me you wanted premium paints, you want this to last a long time, you're planning on living here a while. Let me just go back through things real quick. Give me two or three more minutes. I must have done something wrong.

Jon Bryant: Absolutely. That setup moment is so critical. And you have to truly believe it — you can't just say it. I often tell people, "I want you to know 50% of the people I talk to go with me. The other 50% choose a different route. You might be either one — let's figure it out together."

Once that truly resonated with me, things became so much easier. I was hoping people would buy instead of forcing a solution on them. So when someone says no, I thank them — "Awesome, thanks for letting me know. That was our deal, you lived up to your end of the bargain." Then I ask, would it be okay if I asked a couple more questions?

And then — is it related to another estimate you've got? Am I the first bid or the third? Is it too expensive because it's more than you expected, or too expensive compared to something else? If it's the latter, I love to say, "That's totally fair — would you be okay if we did a quick comparison of the estimates just to make sure they're the same?" Because so often in this industry, people don't include all the relevant details.

I'll give them an example: Sherwin-Williams and Benjamin Moore are great companies, but they have a wide variety of paint lines. Are you familiar with that? They usually aren't. It's like, the bid they bring up is a piece of paper that says "Benjamin Moore quality, coverage." And I walk them through what that actually means — what line of paint will they use, what does "to coverage" mean for your finish? It's a great conversation that very few people actually have. You can educate them on your process, but it's hard to educate them on what they're receiving in someone else's bid. Customers really appreciate that.

And again — we might not be the right fit, I get that. But then if you get the firm no, "No, we're good, thank you" — what do you do then?

Michael Murray: So we've handled the objection and the customer is still saying, "We have another quote, we like them, we're going with them, thank you for your time." I would leave gracefully. One of our core values is building lifelong relationships. I'm not going to keep beating a dead horse. But when I'm at my best, I follow up with an email that says something like:

"Hey, thank you for your time. I appreciate you letting me know we aren't going to work together. I know I said I'd be okay with that, but I really do appreciate it — it's frustrating when I have to spend a lot of time chasing someone. I hope everything goes well on the project. If at any point you need us for a future project, we would love the opportunity to earn your business."

And to me, it's never dead. We'll probably call this person again in one to three months after that hard no.

Jon Bryant: Love that. My approach has changed over the years and I do kind of leave it with one last point. I've heard this example and it really resonated with me.

Someone's going to the top of Mount Everest. You're a Sherpa. You meet this person and ask what they want — "I want to climb Everest." You say, "Great, I'm a Sherpa. I have all the equipment, the experience, I can take you there. It just costs this much." And the person says, "No thanks, I have an REI membership."

You could go into all the details and try to sell them, but they're a firm believer the REI membership and their gear will get them there. If you fight them, you're never going to convince them. But what you can do is say, "Thanks — when you're ready to go to the top of Mount Everest, just let me know." And you let them go.

They buy their equipment, try to do it, and realize this is a terrible idea. And they remember that Sherpa. Our job as salespeople is to let the person make the decision when they're ready — and when they get to that point, you've already planted the seed. So when someone gives you that hard no, I say: "Thanks. When you're ready to work with us to get a project done at the highest level, give us a call." And then you move on.

Michael Murray: I like it. And one way I like to handle that objection before we get there — I'll ask: "If our two prices were the same, who would you go with?" If they say the other guy, it's end of conversation, probably fine. If they say me, I ask: "Great — why? What's the one thing about what we do that stands out the most?"

Maybe they say, "You have an interior designer for color consultations — that sounded really cool and the other guy never mentioned it." Then, to your point, I can say, "Would that be worth paying a little more for?" And if we're just too far apart, I can still use what they said was important when I close it out — "When you're ready to work with a company that has that interior designer, we'll be here."

Jon Bryant: I love that. A lot of times people do call you back because you didn't fight them on it. You just allowed them to realize it's going to be hard to get to the top of Mount Everest without the services you deliver.

Michael Murray: Getting a no on the spot is actually quite rare. We book over half the quotes we go on, and we still don't get a whole lot of nos on the spot. Most decisions happen after the initial appointment. Does that resonate with you?

Jon Bryant: Absolutely. Being able to discuss the price on the spot is so valuable to your win rate because you can get real feedback. Once you miss that opportunity, it's easy for people to just disappear. That largely depends on personality type too.

We've talked about DISC profiles before — a high D, executive-type person used to making quick decisions might give you a yes on the spot, especially if the timeline is urgent. But 75% of people go into it thinking they just need to gather information. They truly do need to talk to other people. So getting as much feedback as you can while you're together is vital — some people would have closed on the spot if you'd just asked.

You can start identifying areas of friction that might become nos by asking more direct questions.

Michael Murray: I agree with everything. The way we frame it is: after every appointment, a rep needs to walk away with a yes, a no, or a next-step agreement. And if it's a next-step agreement, the rep needs to know what the decision factor is. Not price — price is only a reflection of perceived value. What do they actually value? Is it the schedule? The warranty? Whatever it is, at least you know. If you leave without any idea what they're using to make their decision, that's a problem — you didn't ask enough questions.

Jon Bryant: Okay, let's move on — a lot of nos actually come by text or email. What do you do when you get a text saying "Michael, we loved you, but no"?

Michael Murray: I have an actual example of this from a few years ago — I even screen-captured the thread because I used it as training material.

I got a text that went something like: "Hi Michael, I know we said we'd touch base Monday about the quote. We decided to go a different route — we received a quote from another company that aligned better with our budget going into the new year. Thanks so much for meeting with us. We're going to stay in touch about painting the cabinets."

My response — not mean emojis, not the middle finger, definitely not that — was: "I certainly understand. I appreciate you letting me know. If I was able to get closer to the other quote you mentioned, would there be an opportunity for us to still work together on this project?"

So I'm doing the same thing I'd do in person, just a piece at a time. And one sentence back at a time — can I just keep you talking? Because if I can, that's a good sign you're still interested.

If somebody chose to take it to text, that's where they're comfortable. They don't want to fumble their words on a call or feel like they might get talked into something. Her response was that they would love to work with our company — they were actually bummed when they ran the numbers and realized they couldn't.

I said, "I appreciate that you could see the value we provide and that you appreciated our warranty. What price do I need to be at to earn your business?" — my way of asking for the other quote without making it feel confrontational.

She gave me the number. I pulled up my quote, looked at my notes, found a couple of rooms they'd said were kind of nice-to-haves, and offered to set those aside with a small adjustment. I ended up $250 more than the other quote and asked if I could earn their business at that price. She said yes.

Jon Bryant: That chain is such a great example of identity role in action — low stakes, just asking questions. Using the right words like "I don't want to overstep" so you don't seem too aggressive. You're still working for them.

One thing I'd add: when I get emails, I try to move it to text immediately. Email is too slow. I'll say something like, "Hey, I'm out in the field, just saw your email come through — thank you for letting me know" via text, which gets a faster back-and-forth going. And once things get close, I'll ask, "Would it be okay to have a quick call just to sort out the details?" You're moving it up levels of personalization.

And like you said — never give without getting. If you're going to come down on price, get something in return. A five-star review, letting a yard sign stay up for a month — little negotiating points that justify the adjustment.

The one thing I see a lot from reps is just not engaging at all — just saying "thanks for letting me know" and marking it lost in PaintScout. Your example shows that if you've done this correctly and the person is letting you know, they're respecting what you asked. So it's only fair to ask: is this truly put to bed? That's all you need to ask. And if they're still standoffish after that, go look in the mirror — what did I do to not facilitate a good conversation?

Michael Murray: Exactly. Why does this person believe that engaging in an open and honest conversation with me will lead to a negative outcome? Somewhere I gave them that impression — or past contractors did, and I didn't do enough to show that's not how I do things.

Jon Bryant: Okay, the phone call no — very similar to in person, but it's interesting because in person you've had time to build a little rapport. The phone call feels like you're starting over. Your heart is beating, their heart is beating, and they say "we're going a different direction." You panic and say "okay, great, take care, let me know whenever" in the most passive-aggressive way possible.

Michael Murray: "Best of luck with that."

Jon Bryant: Any strategies that are important to you and your team?

Michael Murray: A lot of the same things, but one thing I'd add: most customers don't want to be on the phone for a long time. They're trying to be respectful of the fact that you asked for closure. They're expecting this call to last about a minute. So if you start going, "Could I ask some questions? Let me revisit the entire quote again" — they don't want that.

What you can do is respect the phone call, then follow up by text. Something like: "I really appreciate your call yesterday. I've been thinking about it because it felt like we had a really good connection and there was going to be an opportunity to work together." Then you can go back through the objection handling via text without keeping them on the phone.

On the call itself, I'm going to ask one good question: "Gary, if you don't mind me asking, what was the deciding factor for you?" Then I'll respect it, follow up by text a few hours or a day later — just like reengage and bring the relationship back on the upswing.

Jon Bryant: I think phone is the most escalated version of no. So what you just described is deescalating it — making it more comfortable, giving them a chance to breathe. When people are just focused on delivering the no, they lose the ability to think clearly. You introduce a new question via text and suddenly they're actually considering it rather than just being in escape mode. I love that.

Alright, our final one — ghosting.

Michael Murray: The most common one.

Jon Bryant: The most conflict-averse way of handling a no. A few strategies here — thoughts?

Michael Murray: Why don't you start?

Jon Bryant: A lot of times we try to set up a follow-up agreement at the appointment — we try to get specific. "You want a phone call? Great, how's this time? I'll send you a calendar invite." When they don't honor it, I used to get frustrated. But I've learned to be self-aware and send a message like: "I must've messed this up — that must've been the wrong time. Sorry about that. Let me know another time that works for you." When you deescalate it like that, you'd be surprised — a lot of people say, "No, no, that was me. I'm good to chat at this time."

Then after you've called and followed up a few times with no response, there are some people who just can't bring themselves to have the conversation. So it's about sending a message like: "It appears we might not be the right fit — I'm just guessing based on the fact that I haven't heard from you. I don't want to be a pest, but should we just wrap this up?" That message gets about a 90% response rate of either, "Oh my gosh, I've just been super busy, let's connect" — or — "Yes, we've chosen someone else." And now you have the answer you were looking for and can move forward.

Michael Murray: Yeah, I've heard that called a breakup email — or breakup text, breakup voicemail, whatever the medium is. This is for when you've tried a couple of times and it's been maybe two to three weeks after the initial quote. Most people have made a decision by then. They're either going with you — you probably would have heard — going with somebody else, or, and I think this is actually the most common one: they're just not doing the project right now. Life got in the way. Something else became more important.

I always tell our reps — I'm a bad homeowner for a sales rep. You're going to have to follow up on me a bunch of times. I'm always in meetings, and when I'm not, I'm coaching my kid in sports or driving home at 7:30 at night not wanting to talk business. And then the next day I've forgotten to call you back. That is a very common scenario.

So the breakup message happens a few weeks later. Ours usually lines up with when quotes expire at 30 days — so we're maybe a week or two past that. It goes something like: "Hey, I haven't heard from you in a few weeks. Typically that means you've probably decided we're not going to be the right fit — and that's okay. I told you at the appointment I'd be okay with that. I would appreciate if you could let me know just so I can close this out. If I don't hear from you by end of the week, I'll assume we're not moving forward and close out your quote. If you're still interested, let me know and I can extend the deadline."

Brief, respectful, and it works.

Jon Bryant: And what's the success rate on those?

Michael Murray: I'd be making up a stat if I gave you a number, but it's pretty decent. We sell more than half the estimates we go on, and a lot of the ones we don't sell — they don't actually end up painting with anybody else.

Case in point: we have new reps right now and one of the things they do in their first few weeks is call old estimates — six months, a year, even two to three years old. A rep did this last week. Roughly 60 calls, talked to about 12 people, and 7 of those 12 were kind of interested — "I still might consider that this year, could you resend the quote?" There are no painting emergencies. A lot of homeowners are gathering quotes and making budgetary decisions that take them years to act on. Follow up. Be a professional. Put them in a system that keeps in touch over time.

Jon Bryant: Absolutely. Nick Slavik — friend of the show — had his reps in January when things were slow just calling everyone who had said no to them. They were getting about a 17% rebid or sale rate on those calls. The enemy isn't the competitor — it's inaction. What we think is a lost job to someone else is often a customer who was overwhelmed by information, overwhelmed by life. Knowing that 17% of nos are actually just "not right now" is such a great reminder that the opportunity is still there.

Stay in touch, don't make a fool of yourself when they say no, lay the groundwork for a long-standing relationship — and you're going to be way happier with how everything feels on both sides.

Michael Murray: For sure. 17% is a lot, and there's no marketing spend — just some rep time on the phone, especially in the slower winter months. And I think the bigger takeaway is that reps need more time built into their calendar for follow-up. If your calendar in the spring is completely full of doing estimates, you become an estimating machine. You're not getting closure. Focus on getting 100% closure this busy spring and see what happens to your win rate.

Jon Bryant: Taking better care of your customers and being a better salesperson — you're going to appreciate how your life feels different when you handle nos well.

Michael Murray: Last thing I'll leave the sales reps with: on the next appointment you go on, in the first 10 minutes, let the customer know you're going to be okay with a no. That all you ask is that if at any point they don't feel like you're the right fit, they just let you know. Then truly and honestly believe it. Watch how their guard goes down. You're going to be wildly successful, and this job is going to be a lot more fun.

Jon Bryant: Love it. Guys, thanks for tuning in to Price Sell Paint. Michael and I love having this conversation. Give us a like and subscribe, let us know you're out there and that this stuff is valuable to you. We can't wait to chat with you again soon. Thanks Michael!

Michael Murray: Thank you. See you next time.