Youve contacted someone and opened the sales call with these words:

Hello, this is Gary Goodman with Customersatisfaction.com

And right at this moment the prospect replies, Im not interested!

Rude, dont you think?

Here you are, at the very beginning of what you hope will be a pleasant give-and-take, and they cut you off before you can give anything!

So, how can you respond, presuming they havent hung-up?

You can do the intuitive thing, which is also the most defensive, and that is to argue with the prospect:

How can you BE interested; I havent even said anything, yet! This is guaranteed to earn that hang-up, for you.

You can try to ignore it. This was my Aunt Cecelias approach. When you hear something you dont want to hear, pretend you didnt hear it.

She swore by that one, but I assure you, it wont work on the phone in a selling situation.

Or, you can reply, diplomatically. This is the way to go, believe me.

A transition is a word bridge that enables you to gracefully travel from their interruption back to your presentation. Here are some examples:

(1) Well, I understand that, but

(2) Well, I respect that, but

(3) Well, I appreciate that, however

(4) Well, Id be surprised if you were at this point, but

So, lets revisit the dialogue at the top of the page, adding a timely transition phrase:

Hello, this is Gary Goodman with Customersatisfaction.com

Im not interested!

Well, I appreciate that, but the reason Im calling is recently we sent out some letters and brochures, and I was wondering, do you recall seeing one of those by any chance?

This is an after-mailing opener, if you were wondering, and it works quite well.

But my point is you cant get to this opener unless you have a diplomatic bridge.

Try them, and tell me how you do!