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Robert Herjavec was joined by fellow Shark Tank investors Daymond John and Barbara Corcoran at The 92nd Street Y, New York event on May 24, 2016. They sat down to discuss Robert's book You Don't Have to Be a Shark: Creating Your Own Success.
During the interview, Robert reflected on his principle of turning down deal certain deals. He explained that it is important for salespeople, especially those who rely on commission, to recognize the deals that waste time and reject them.
The Shark Tank investor emphasized that this is one of his key pieces of advice and something he regularly teaches his sales team.
"I'm always saying look for the No," he said.
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Shark Tank's Robert Herjavec and Daymond John explain the value of rejection in business
At The 92nd Street Y convention, Shark Tank star Barbara Corcoran reminisced about Robert Herjavec's first book, Driven, where he discussed the importance of knowing when it’s acceptable to say "no." While she understood his point, she asked him to elaborate further on his insight.
Robert noted that he still believes that saying 'no' to certain deals is, in fact, more valuable for a salesperson. He shared:
"That's one of the things I would try to teach my salespeople. Good salespeople look for yes. Great salespeople find no and turn that objection around."
The Shark Tank investor explained that time is the most limited resource people have, especially in sales. He added that when a salesperson earns through commission in his job, then they need to realize when they are wasting their time, as it could have a huge impact on their earning.
"We have a term in our industry that we call 'Happy ears'. Good salespeople have happy ears because they always hear yes. Even when the customer is giving off no and is never gonna buy from you. They wanna waste time, they wanna buy lunches and they're happy. They're happy ears," the Shark Tank investor continued.
Daymond John chimed in, stating that the concept is same in the fashion business. He explained that a buyer or a store never wants to admit they turned down a deal, as they don’t want to miss out if the product does well later.
He noted that instead of directly turning down the deal or saying 'no', the stores might kind of make excuses, or give the reason to come back and try again.
"They always say, 'I'm not sure if we take this in this season. Try these colors. Do this.' They give you a job to come back, right? And you'll keep doing that. And every buyer is out of work designer, so they're always gonna wanna design your line. So you have to find them," he said.
Robert later added that he felt the same about Hollywood. He recalled that somebody had told him that there's "no such thing as a bad meeting in Hollywood" because "it's always a great idea" and nobody would ever say no.
Daymond agreed and mentioned that, in those situations, people are unlikely to admit they turned you down. Instead, they will say something else to avoid the negative connotation of saying "no."
"Because in the event that you end up going somewhere, there are never gonna say 'I didn't say no. It just wasn't the right time,'" Daymond said.
Shark Tank season 16 episodes air every Friday on ABC.
