“Digressions, objections, delight in mockery and carefree mistrust are all signs of health.”

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900)
Beyond Good and Evil

Objections vs. Stalls vs. conditions

 

      By my definition, an objection is the customer’s way of telling us what we have to accomplish in order to sell him. He’s telling us that he’s not 100% comfortable yet. Unfortunately, it’s not usually the first thing they tell us.
Ex: “We need to think about it” really  means “That’s more money than I can afford right now!”

 

      There are a lot of ways a customer may try to hide that it’s a money issue. It’s a natural reaction, they’re usually embarrassed. There are some easy ways to funnel their camouflaged objections into the actual one. For example:

 

      “I understand you need to think about this Jim and Martha, which is totally fine. Let me ask you a few questions to make sure we’re on the same page, ok? Is there anything about my product that you’re uncomfortable with? No, how about our service plan? Well, could it be the price?”

      Now that’s an easy way of doing it. But it works. We’ll discuss some other ways as well.

 

“If you shoot at mimes, should you use a silencer?“

Steven Wright (1955- )
Stand-up comedian/actor/writer

 

 

      A Stall is something that a customer says or does that covers up the real reason they do not feel comfortable going ahead with the project.

Ex: Great, let me call my credit union and get back to you next week.”

      You see, he’s not saying no (but he’s a far cry from saying yes, either). What he’s doing is trying to get rid of you with the least confrontation as possible. This is not a bad thing for us, if we can get the customer to agree that “THAT” is the only reason he’s not committing to your product today.  Either that or we funnel him down to his real objection, which is probably money. For instance:

 

      “That’s great, Jack and Jill. Credit Unions will always seem to offer the very best rates, you’re lucky to belong to one. However, just to make sure we’re all on the same page, … is there any other reasons why you don’t want to start the project now other than checking with your credit union first?”

      If they agree, then play the devil’s advocate … “Let me ask you this Jack, what if they turn you down, can we use our financing as a back up?”

      If they say sure, then you have yourself an order. However, if they try to stall you, you realize that they’re really not sold yet.

 

      Ask a question such as: “So if they turn you down, does that mean you can’t sign up at all?” If they say they will still do it, ask them to confirm that it will be your product for sure that they use.

 

      Now you’ve gotten them to admit that going with your product, and they’re going to do it with our without their credit union. You’ve just thrown a monkey wrench into their stall.

 

      “Let’s write this up now, because you’ll probably need a copy for your credit union, and this way I’m all set to get you a loan if they don’t make you happy, fair enough?”

 

      Chances are, it’s not fair enough. Remember, this was a stall. The customer will hem, haw and hopefully you’ll be able to get the true objection out of them, which will probably be the money.

 

 

“The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining. “

John F. Kennedy (1917-1963)
35^th President of the United States

 

      A condition is a specific reason why they can’t do it now. The customer is not telling us that he doesn’t want to do it; he’s telling us that he can’t do it. Many times this is a façade, but some times it’s something that is out of our customer’s control and ours too.

Ex: “I have no money and my credit is very bad.”

 

      Hmmmm, doesn’t sound like a very good prospect. Cut to the chase with this customer. Flat out get him to agree that if YOU can make this happen, he wants to get started now. With a customer like this, you have to be very upbeat and positive.

“We get everybody financed.”

 

      Some conditions, conversely, can’t be handled. Such as:

“We don’t own this house.” … Find out who does and reset the appointment.

 

      Remember, there are several things you can do up front, in order to make the objections easier to handle on the back end:

 

• Build value during our presentation
• Use Price conditioning early and often.
• Take out the competition early in the presentation.
• Listen to what they want!!! It’s a true skill.
• Use creative synergy so we can arrive at a win/win agreement.

 

      Hint: In non-combative selling remember:  A customer will be more comfortable with an idea he came up with himself, as opposed to you solving his problem for him. This is natural human nature.

 

 

 

“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”

Plato (427 BC - 347 BC)
Greek author & philosopher in Athens

 

Cushioning

 

      At this point , cushioning is the most important tool you have in your utility belt. NEVER argue or disagree with a customer. Always agree emphatically. For example:

 

“We can’t afford to spend that much money right now.”

      Then you shouldn’t. If it’s not comfortable right now, than by all means, you shouldn’t do it, …  Here’s what I do when I can’t afford something I really want …..

 

“We always sleep on all major decisions.”

      Well, you’ve obviously made many fine decisions in your life, judging by your beautiful home, so if that’s your policy, I won’t be the one to try and change you. However, let me ask you this …..

 

“We always get three estimates, no matter what, and you’re the first.”

      I’m your first? You should never buy anything without getting a couple estimates! My only question is this: Let’s say another company comes in …

 

BE ON YOUR CUSTOMER’S SIDE!!!

 

Now, Remember these four letters: WCCA

 

W              Write it down

C               Cushion their objection

C               Clarify their argument/objection

A               Ask questions

 

 

Some examples

 

“We can’t afford to spend that much money right now.”

 

Write it down. This needs to be addressed before trying to close and it gives the appearance that you’re truly concerned with their dilemma.

 

Cushion — “If I’ve learned anything in life, Mrs. Brown, is that we can only do what’s affordable for us. I really understand that ,my product is sometimes a little higher than people have budgeted.

 

Clarify — “So what you’re saying, just to make sure we’re on the same page, is that you’d like to have my product, but THIS amount is more than you’re comfortable spending today?

 

Ask - What if we were able to get started with the really serious problems today, as opposed to doing nothing, and worry about the other ones next year.

 

 

 

“We always sleep on all major decisions.”

 

Write it down. This needs to be addressed before trying to close.

 

Cushion — Well, you’ve obviously made many fine decisions in your life, judging by your beautiful home, so if that’s your policy, that’s what you should do.

 

Clarify - So there aren’t any specific reasons NOT to get started on the project, you just want to make sure you’re as comfortable tomorrow as you are right now?

 

Ask - Just to make sure I understand … is there anything right NOW that you’re uncomfortable with?

 
“We always get three estimates, no matter what, and you’re the first.”

 

Write it down. This needs to be addressed before trying to close.

 

Cushion — I’m your first? You should never buy anything without getting a couple estimates!”

 

Clarify - So you like everything I’ve shown you, you love my company, and you’re crazy about me, right? (smile) So you just need to talk to other people just to make sure?

 

Ask –  My only question is this: Let’s say another company comes in, not as nice of a product, not as professional, not as long in business … but they’re cheaper. Would you consider settling for less quality just to save a few bucks?

 

Just Ask

I can remember back when I was just getting started in sales. I used to go out of my way to do the best presentation possible. I’d be up waving my arms, doing impressions, telling jokes, sticking pencils through my screen, anything I could do to be different, and of course, enthusiastic. My boss used to call it “the Joey Show.” Whenever I’d hit a slump, I’d always console myself by saying, “at least I did a great presentation,” which is good, but not really what I was there for.

The primary Goal Is To Close The Sale

Sometimes we forget what the goal is. It’s not to make a great presentation. It’s not to send the prospect a proposal [via e-mail, snail mail, or fax]. It’s not to overcome all the objections.

The primary Goal Is To Close the Sale

The goal is to close the sale.  Never kid yourself that there are people out there that need to be sold! If you don’t aggressively ask for the sale, the next guy will. Even if your price is better, or your Insurance Policy covers more, some people can’t buy anything unless somebody persuasively sells it to them.

      Remember your first day in sales, when the old veteran put his arm around you and said, “kid, when they tell you at the door that they ain’t buying anything today … do a fricken Novena, because those people are real mooches!” OK, he may not have said it just like that, but you got the idea and guess what … it was true!!!

Remember, an objection is just the customer’s way of telling you what you still have to do in order to make him happy.

“Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.”

Dale Carnegie — (1888-1955)

Pioneer in public speaking and personality development

 

Rapport through name calling

Use your customer’s name as often as seems fit.  The average person is more interested in hearing his own name than all the names in the world.  Think about it, why do wealthy patrons donate money to hospitals, libraries and museums? Because they cannot bear the thought that their names might some day perish from the memory of the human race.

 

“Save” method for remembering names

            S - Say the name 3 times in conversation.

            A - Ask a question about the name (e.g.: how it is spelled) or about the person.

            V - Visualize the person's prominent physical or personality feature.

            E - End the conversation with the name

Wear a nametag

            How many times have you bumped into an old friend and forgot their name. It’s especially embarrassing if you’re not alone, and now the two of them are waiting for you to introduce them. Do you want your customers to feel equally embarrassed if they can’t remember your name? You are trying to explain why your product is better than anybody else’s, they sit there nodding at you but thinking … is his name Bob, is it Bill …”

“You can tell a man is clever by his answers. You can tell a man is wise by his questions.”

Naguib Mahfouz (1911 - )
Egyptian novelist, Nobel Prize Laureate

Customer Questions

            A nice list of questions serves several purposes. 

Let’s say you’re warming up with your potential customer and he’s the type who’s rushing you into getting started:

            “I don’t have all day,” he barks at you, as you’re asking him about his fascinating bowling trophies. “Let’s get on with it!”

            “No problem, sir.” And you whip out your prepared list of CUSTOMER QUESTIONS. Now, as far as he’s concerned, you’ve started, however you’re still warming up.

            Another reason the questions are important is that it makes the customer realize early on that WE CARE ABOUT THEM.

Having a printed, prepared set of questions can really help in many ways. It’s very professional and easily gives your customer the impression that you’ve gotten down to business.  Questions such as:

            How old is your home?

            How long have you lived here?

            What improvements have you already made?

            How long have you been considering this project?

            What would you like to accomplish with this project?

            Is there anything you’d like to change about your home?

            What has kept you from doing it so far?

            What’s important to you about a company?

            What’s important to you about a product?

            How soon will you be deciding on this project?

            Have you a budget set aside or will you be interested in financing?

            Is there anything I haven’t asked you that I need to know in order to do my very best job solving your problems?

 

            The last question is in bold. It lets the customer know that we’re interested in what’s important to them! Ask it sincerely. The other question in bold is your most useful question. Most potential customers will sincerely tell you that they’ve been thinking about the project for some time. At the very end of your presentation, if your customer tells you that he wants to “think about it?” Look him in the eye and ask, “Bob, you’ve been thinking about this for five years now, don’t you think it’s time you acted?”

“Be the Ball”

Chevy Chase as Ty Webb

Caddyshack (1980)

 

As you pull up to your sales appointment, take a good look at the location. If you’ve been doing this for any length of time, you should be able to remember a home or office similar to it, where you made a nice sale.

Think about that sale! Remind yourself what it was like to walk out of that appointment with a big sale. How good it felt to drive home that night, knowing that you accomplished your goals, put bread on your family’s table and helped your customers solve their problems.

Now picture yourself making this sale. Just like you imagine a golf shot in your mind before actually swinging the club, see yourself selling your product.

Reacquire that feeling of accomplishment, a mental high that only sales people experience.  Now … go knock on that door and Be the Ball!

“Before everything else, getting ready is the secret of success.”

Henry Ford (1863-1947)
American industrialist, inventor

Why a System?

            Once I was in the field training a new sales rep, and we didn’t get the sale. As we were driving back to the office, I asked him what, if anything, he would have done differently. He gave me a blow-by-blow account of how he would have done this first, this last and changed the way I did this. I asked him why, and he was proud to inform me that he was good at reading his customers and in his opinion, they would have responded better to the changes. I just looked at him and smiled. Maybe your right, I said, but I do the same thing the same way every time.

Why not just wing it? Over the years, sales reps have told me how they just treat each potential customer as they come. They “play it by ear.”

I compare doing a sales presentation with starring in a Broadway play. I have my lines, I’ve memorized them and I do them the same way every night. By doing it this way, I get better and better at my craft. If something is not working, I can figure out the problem easier this way, too.

Plus, a system assures that you’re covering all of the bases, all of the time. A good system is designed to walk you through the sales process, with every step specifically designed to cover individual selling points.

Joey DeMicco

Does this sound familiar? There is a wonderful selling opportunity on your schedule today. You know you should be excited — but you’re not. Maybe you were up all night with a sick child or maybe you heard some bad news recently that has affected you in a negative way. Whatever the reason, you need to SNAP OUT OF IT! This is your business and your livelihood. It’s next to impossible to get potential customers excited about you and your product when your attitude is less than enthusiastic. You need to be able to improve your own attitude at times like this, and it’s not as difficult as you may think.

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Use language, tone, and motion to get yourself in sync with prospects.

Source: REPLACEMENT CONTRACTOR Magazine
Publication date: 2007-05-01

By Joey DeMicco

James was one of the hardest working sales reps I’ve ever had the pleasure of managing. A tall, boisterous guy, he had a voice you could hear a mile away. He was always in the office or knocking on a door trying to put a deal together.

Unfortunately, his numbers weren’t as robust as James was. The man worked harder than anybody else at the company yet, at month’s end, he was near the bottom of the board. His problem? He wasn’t connecting with potential customers. They heard him, alright. Loud and clear. But he wasn’t building rapport with them.
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What is a goal?

Dictionary.com defines goal as: The purpose toward which an endeavor is directed; an objective. To me, a goal is taking an objective, putting it down on paper, and doing everything within your means to make it happen.

It is NOT taking your past results and estimating what you will do in the future as long as everything remains the same and you don’t put forth any additional effort. That’s a guesstimate! A goal starts with the end result, and works backward, showing you what you need to do to succeed.

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