You're going out on a date. A first date. You don't know your new friend's tastes, budget, or anything about them, but you do know that you've decided to start off your evening by going out to eat.

You hit "Restaurant Row" in your city, and as you approach the many choices for eating out, a hundred different things go through your mind:

- What does he/she like to eat?

- Do I have enough money to go to the expensive place?

- Do I want to get messy?

- What am I hungry for?

- Will the atmosphere be right? Will it be too loud to talk?

- Are we appropriately dressed?

- Am I going to run into someone I don't want to see?

- Do they have enough parking, or are we going to have to walk a long way?

It's a little snapshot of time, but in that moment, you'll make a mutual decision based on lots of little things... and all those influences add up to the choice you'll make in that moment.

This scenario is just like what your customer goes through when you call them about your product or service for sale. A hundred different influences are acting upon your customer's thought process at that moment in time, bringing them to a "snap judgment" - a quick conclusion about your offer:

- They may have just ushered a bad sales rep out of their building

- They may have just learned that their best client has dumped them for a competitor

- They may have bill payment problems, shipment problems, or personnel issues

- They may just have ended a "gloom-and-doom" meeting, a "come-to-Jesus" meeting, an insufferable budget meeting, etc.

- They may have personal issues at home that are weighing heavy on them

- They may be overwhelmed by all they have to get done in their day

- They may have someone in their office that's out sick, and everyone has to cover

- They may be hiring new people, training new people, or re-educating their current staff on new tasks, and it may be frustrating and time-consuming

- They may have learned about something that the company is considering that could impact them negatively

Just because they react negatively to you doesn't mean they aren't interested in your product! Depending on the way their day is going, your product could literally be the FURTHEST thing from their mind at that moment. They may not want to tie up their brain for something like your product, but it may very well be something they WILL be interested in talking about at the right time.

Don't give up.