As an entrepreneur, you know that customers are essential – in fact, they are king. Your business survives because of its existence. However, your effort, dedication, and hard work have also been responsible for hooking them to your audience.

However, you should still be thankful to your employees – after all, they have stayed loyal to your business. You should be thankful for their patronage, but sometimes you come across a situation when you have to say NO to your client.

There could be several reasons when you do not want to accept the offer from your client. You may have your own reasons, and you may be right in your situation to deny fulfilling the demand by your user, but you are still not allowed to say no directly.

It can be pretty harsh to say straightaway. Saying no to your users is an art. You have to be very polite and sophisticated. You cannot lose professionalism.

Effective tips to say no to your customers

Here are the practical tips to say no to your clients:

Say no in an affirmative way

You do not need to say directly no to your clients. The best way is to say no in an affirmative way. If you directly say no to your users, they will likely get offended. They may feel that you are impudent to them, and as a result, this will lead to negative marketing.

Of course, you know that you are absolutely right and your user is demanding unnecessarily, but the way you deal with their queries will ultimately make it or break it. Therefore, you should always say no in the form of yes.

For instance, if your customer is asking you for something that you cannot provide to them, you can say them ceremoniously that:

“We are afraid, but unfortunately, we are not offering this kind of facility. We apologise for the disappointment caused to you.”

When it comes to saying no, you just cannot finish here. You will have to tell me the reason for it. Make sure that you do not make an ambiguous excuse.

Be specific and clear. If it is not in your policy or you are unable to do it because of data protection, just let them know. When your customers get a relevant answer from you, they will understand your point of view and will not make complaints.

However, you still cannot end the conversation. Because your customer has approached you in the hope of something and you have to deny them due to some reasons, you should try to let them go with positive news.

No matter you could not provide them with what they asked you for, but you can offer them an alternative. It will likely be a different thing, but if it partially solves the purpose of your client, you should not hesitate to make this offer.

Do not jump to say no

It is always suggested not to say no immediately. You may think that you have understood what your customer is asking for, but it is likely that you do not understand well about their needs. You likely say no to them, and they were actually looking for what you have.

This happens because customers do not sometimes interact appropriately. Their conversation is ambiguous, that you cannot understand their needs.

This is why it is suggested that you should clarify before jumping to say no. Make sure that you ask them whether you understood them clearly – is this what they are asking for? The most common phrases that you can use are as follows:

• I understand what you mean, but could you elaborate…
• If I am not mistaken, you are looking for, or you want me to…
• Could you just tell me… to ensure what I understood is what you are asking for or avoiding any miscommunication?

Show empathy

If your customers have approached you in the hope of something but you cannot provide them with that despite having genuine reasons, you should still show some empathy.

Most of the time, you may not feel the need for it, but showing empathy can help prevent spoiling your relationship with them that you built after great effort. Even if you are not able to do anything for them, you should show some empathy.

Show your customers that you care about them, respect them, and are thankful to them. Here are some expressions that you can use to have an empathetic conversation:

• We are extremely apologetic for not being able to deliver you… We would be upset too, if we were you. Let’s see what can we do for you as of now.
• I completely understand you need it and it is essential for you, but…
• I know it can be frustrating to anyone. I completely understand what you are feeling. If you do not mind, can I offer you…?
• Use phrases like “I would”, “I understand”, “I am afraid”, “I agree”, and the like.

Reach out to them when you can fulfil their need

Even though you do not have a way to fulfil their demand currently, you would never force them to choose your competitors over you. This is why it is crucial to stay connected with them even if you have told them you could not provide them with what they are looking for.

You should drop them an email to let them know when you are able to fulfil their needs. Companies often make specific changes in their policies when they notice an increasing demand for the same kind of thing. If this happens, you should immediately inform your customers to do something.

The bottom line

Many entrepreneurs keep spending a lot of money in attracting customers, and for that, they fund marketing with 100% guaranteed loans, but at the same time, you should think the other side as well.

There are situations when you may feel like you need to say no to your customers, but you must be wondering the right way to say no, so they do not feel offended.

The tips mentioned above can help you understand to say no to your clients in the right way.