Sales Objection

Reading a prospects mind and overcoming their objections

In the mind of a prospect, it is often easier to make the decision not to act/buy/join, than the possibility of making the wrong decision. Therefore, our goal is to help the prospect justify why they are making the right decision.

By anticipating their objections and questions in advance, you are able to be the proverbial devil’s advocate. Here are some transitional phrases to help you bring up that inevitable objection or unspoken question.

“I bet you’re asking yourself . . .”
“You might be wondering . . .”
“If you’re concerned about . . .”
“A question I often hear at this point in a conversation is . . .”

By mentioning the objection before they bring it up, you’ll disarm the prospect and put them in a more receptive frame of mind.

-Jim

© 2009 salesobjection.com

In a sales slump?

I am a firm believer that a sales slump is nothing more than a state of mind that begins by consciously or unconsciously thinking about it. This is why professional athletes don’t talk about it or quickly change the subject when the question is raised.

If you understand the law of attraction, you know firsthand that you will be drawn to what it is you think about and focus on. Therefore, by dwelling on ‘why you are not selling’ up to par, you are destined to make that your reality.

My recommendation for getting out of a sales slump – the second the though of being in one enters your mind, force it from your thoughts as quickly as possible. Absorb yourself with positive reinforcements such as a good business book, audio or truly professional people. (Run like hell from other sales people who enable doubts and uncertainty – you don’t need empathy, you need to change the subject)

Rather than spend a lot of time writing about sales slumps on this blog, I will defer those that absolutely must read more to SalesSlump.com

-Jim

© 2009 SuccessCo.com

5 Ways To Conquer Objections Before They Come Up

A job in sales can be both rewarding and potentially very frustrating. Typically sales people are treated very offensively. Many people conform to the stereotype that sales people are pushy, rude and care only about your commission. If this is true about you, you really have your work cut out if you want to get anywhere in this business. If you are just a regular guy trying to make a living by selling a product or service, there is hope for you to be able to succeed!

Below are just 5 suggestions of how you can conquer objections BEFORE they come up...

Gain confidence – People do not like giving their money to or satisfying the needs of people that they do not trust. First impressions are everything. Whether you are conducting business in person or over the phone, learn to present yourself in a way that will gain the trust of your buyer. It is said that an individual decide whether or not they are going to continue talking to you in the first 5 second of the interaction. 5 seconds is not a long time but it can be just enough for you to win the heart of your buyer. People are relatively intuitive and will sense a lack of genuine interest if it is present.

Be real, rather than scripted – No one likes to feel like a number. It will help your potential client to trust you if you make them feel like they are the most important thing happening in your life right now. People like to feel valued and needed. It is a form of flattery. If you don’t care enough about who you are trying to pitch a sale to, they will not care to give you their money.

Anticipate – Knowing ahead of time the possible objections that you may face will help you to anticipate and create a plan for how to handle any possible objections. For example, let’s say that you work in a very high end shoe store with very high end prices. You should know that many people will object to paying such a high price for a pair of shoes. So before you hear another woman object by saying, “oh, I don’t know, I just don’t think that these shoes are in my budget right now,” remind her that a good pair of shoes is an investment and wouldn’t she rather buy one pair of good quality shoes than have to replace a cheap pair over and over again?! By anticipating the concerns of your buyers you prevent them from convincing themselves not to buy your product. Understanding what your buyers may be thinking will allow you to plant some more favorable ideas of your own.

Personalize – Everyone likes to feel special and unique, including your clients. There is always some way that you can personalize a sale. Ask questions and show interest in what is important to the buyer. Again referring to the example of a shoe salesman, if you are talking to a busy working mom, tailor the sale to her lifestyle. Show her shoes that are designed to be comfortable and functional and remind her that you can probably guess that such a busy mom needs shoes that can keep up with her lifestyle and make her look good when she’s out and about. A simple pair of loafers can all of the sudden be a mother’s pair of wonder shoes!

Get emotional involvement – nothing closes a sale and conquers objections like emotional involvement. If you can capture your buyer to the point that they have become emotional about the product that you are selling, you are in good shape. Many worthwhile products can really make a difference in the life of your client. Tell your clients how what you are trying to sell them can help accomplish a long un-reached goal, or how this product can help to save them time that they can then spend doing the things that they want to do.

About the Author - Gavin Ingham is a powerful sales motivation speaker and sales trainer throughout the UK and Europe. To learn more about how Gavin can teach your people the sales success mindset click here gaviningham.net

Overcoming Objections 101

Every top sales person knows they will face objections. The most successful sales people aggressively prepare for the objections beforehand and address them directly, in order to win the sale. You can too. Here’s what it takes.

Be prepared, knowledgeable and current.
- It’s called being professional.

Assume there will be objections.
- Don’t be naive and look like a novice by thinking otherwise.

Rank potential objections and prepare good answers for each.
- Do your homework and your client will say yes and stay loyal.

Anticipate the objections and build them in to your presentation.
- Be organized, open and well prepared.

Ask for the objections up front.
- It’s refreshing to have a sales professional so confident of the solution they are offering that they ask for the objections up front. It will help build trust and confidence. It also starts a dialog, engaging your client where they live.

Deliver a sizzling presentation.
- When you draw your client into the experience you offer so they can’t live without your product/service, you have an effective tool to close the sale.

Focus on value and benefits.
- Feature by feature comparisons are all fine on paper. They are very useful collateral to leave behind. But the client is really only looking for the benefits he will gain and the problem you will solve for him. Is the value of those benefits and results warranted for the price tag you propose?

Prepare comparison or competitive data to show your product’s advantages.
- You need the meat to substantiate the benefits you are offering in your sizzling presentation.

The first NO doesn’t mean no, rather it is a request for more information.
- NO is simply an invitation to provide more information and allows you to ask more questions about their need. Each NO is an opportunity to learn more about their problem and offer the best solution tailored to their need.

Develop a counterpoint for every objection.
- Don’t hide past mistakes/product issues. Acknowledge them and what you’ve learned or changed to make it better for clients now. That is, make lemons into lemonade.

When you learn that objections can help, rather than hinder your business, those same objections will create opportunities to investigate clients’ needs more. With an increased understanding of their needs, you can better demonstrate your capability to deliver. Commitment will come in stages advancing you toward a final decision.

About the Author - Kerri Salls, MBA runs a virtual business school to train, consult and coach small business CEO's and entrepreneurs in 10 key strategies to make more profit in less time. Learn more at breakthrough-business-school.com/products.html or sign up for a free weekly newsletter at breakthrough-business-school.com/newsletter.shtml

10 Tips For Handling Sales Objections

Objections from customers can be difficult to overcome, but with the right training objections become part of the normal sales conversation. You must be able to handle multiple types of objections, but you will find that you also have many different ways to handle them. You may want to start by learning a few techniques and then start adding more as you master these methods.

1. Boomerang

Bounce back to them the objection. Take what they say and use it to get them closer to the objective. By using what they say, you are saying that they are right. And when you attach what you want to what they say, then by association, what you want is right.

2. Objection chunking

You take a wider or narrower view than their objection. This helps the customer see the situation from a different perspective. Taking a different perspective has a dual effect, first of re framing to create a different attention and a new understanding, and secondly of distracting from what might be a difficult issue to resolve.

3. Conditional Close

Here you are accepting the objection and getting them to agree to purchase the item if you can resolve the objection. If they say they want a red one, you say if I can get you a red one will you purchase it today.

4. Curiosity

Don’t ask ‘why’, but act curious as to why the objection exists so they have an opportunity to explain the issue. This gives you the information you need to resolve the objection and make the sale. You are no longer threatening because you are only curious and exploring why and not being the hard closer.

5. Deflection

Avoid responding to the objection by letting it pass without comment. By accepting their objection you are accepting them as a person, and the additional harmony and rapport created may be enough to overcome the objection.

6. Feel, felt, found

Talk about how they feel and then mention how others have felt. This method identifies the feelings of the customer and then attaches those same feelings to others so they are part of the group. Then you show how others changed their mind and this allows them to change their mind too.

7. Humor

Respond with humor instead of frustration. This takes the pressure off of the moment and allows them to relax so you can continue the conversation. This also allows you to relax because objections can get frustrating at times.

8. Justification

Confirm their objection by saying how reasonable the objection is. Then you can follow-up by saying it may appear that way or it seems that way and then show them the value of the product or service you are selling. You have now justified their concern and then showed why it really shouldn’t be a concern.

9. Objection writing

As they put their objections out, write them down. Now as you handle each objection cross them off. This shows the customer that you are listening and you want to cover all of their concerns. You can then show them that all of their concerns aren’t really concerns and they have no reason to not purchase today.

10. Pre-empting

You can handle the objections before they come up. If you find that many people have the same objection, you can bring it up first and then brush it away. The objection is then already handled so the person has to come up with something else. Be careful with this one because you may find that you bring up objections that the person had not considered.

In summary, you have ten great ideas to get you started on handling objections. You will find as you use them that they can be used together also. You will want to practice them and have them ready to go at a moments notice.

About the Author - Gavin Ingham is a popular sales motivational speaker who provides dynamic and motivational sales motivational presentations. Visit gaviningham.net Gavin Ingham, Ltd.

Turning Objections Into Sales

When you become a Master Persuader, you will learn to love objections. You will come to understand that when people voice their objections, it actually indicates interest and shows that they are paying attention to what you are saying. The key to persuasion is anticipating all objections before you hear them. Fielding questions and handling objections can make or break you as a persuader. Such skills will help you in every aspect of your life.

Four different times to handle objections:

1. Before they occur
2. When they occur
3. Later
4. Never

Real Objections Vs False Objections

You have to be able to weed real objections from false objections. People are nice and sometimes won't tell you the truth. Most people won't say "I cant afford it."

1. The first thing is to find out if the objection is something you can solve. Suppose you are negotiating a large office furniture order and the objection comes up about not being able to afford your furniture. You then find out your prospect just declared bankruptcy. Obviously there is nothing you can do or say that will resolve such an objection.

2. Let your prospect state his objection: hear him out completely, without interruption. Wait until he is finished before you say anything. Hold your response until the other person is receptive to what you are about to say. This is the first time your prospect has voiced his objection; he will not listen until he has said what is on his mind.

3. Always ask your prospect to restate or repeat his key points. Every time he replays his objection it becomes clearer in both your minds. Letting him speak, particularly if he is upset, drains emotion from his objection. Allowing him to voice his concerns also gives you time to think about a response and helps you determine his intent in bringing up the objection in the first place.

4. Always compliment your prospect on his objection. As a Master Persuader, you can appreciate a good objection; it dictates the direction in which you should take your presentation. You don't have to prove you are right 100% of the time. Skillful persuaders will always find some point of agreement. It's important to recognize the apprehension or objections people have instead of ignoring them.

5. Stay calm. Scientifically proven tests show that calmly stated facts are more effective in getting people to change their minds than are threats and force.

6. Don't be arrogant or condescending. Show empathy with your prospect’s objection. Let him know others have felt this way. Talk in the third person; use a disinterested party to prove your point. This is why we often use testimonials – to let someone else do the persuading for us.

7.Give the person room to save face. People will often change their minds and agree with you later. Unless your prospect has made a strong stand, leave the door open for him to later agree with you and save face at the same time. It could be that he did not have all the facts, that he misunderstood, or that you didn't explain everything correctly.

Questioning can also measure the level of receptivity in your prospects. How receptive your audience is correlates with how many questions or statements arise. So what if there are no questions? What do you do? If there are no questions, it could be because the audience needs time to think about what you have just said, they could be afraid to ask because of what others might think, or they just might not be able to think of a good question to ask. Maybe you went on too long or stepped on a sensitive issue. Perhaps the audience has already made up their minds, or maybe they don't speak English. The best questions draw a person into a conversation and out of being unreceptive. So, it is to your advantage to direct questions at your prospects that will reel them in: What do you think about…? Have you ever thought about…? How do you feel about...? When did you start…? Where did you find…? No matter what, when you get people involved in the process, you will get some objections. The way you handle objections will correlate with how mentally involved people become with your message. The better you become at handling objections, the more persuasive you will become

About the Author - Kurt Mortensen’s trademark is Magnetic Persuasion; you should attract customers, like a magnet. Claim your success and learn what the ultra-prosperous know by going to PreWealth.com and get my free report "10 Mistakes that Cost You Thousands."

How To Handle The "Price Is Too High" Objection

If you're the price “leader” in your industry, you've likely head the “price is too high” objection.

I've written quite a bit over the years about handling this objection, and here's another strategy.

People choose a lower-priced offer when they feel it's the best value, they're willing to forgo the advantages of a higher priced product/service, or risk the disadvantages of the lower-priced alternative. One factor they often overlook is the cost over the long term of choosing the apparent bargain. If you can get them thinking about these not-so-obvious costs, your higher price might actually seem cheaper.

Analyze each of these areas to determine if you can help them understand costs they should be aware of.

Cost of Buying

It confounds me how some people brag about how they found an out-of-the-way place to buy gasoline four cents a gallon cheaper than the neighborhood pump. Oh, and they had to drive across town to get it. Go figure. So, what costs might your customer and prospects pay when buying the lower-priced alternative?

• Do they have to spend more time shopping to get the lower price?

• How about ease of actually placing the order?

• Is there always someone available to help them with the order, or is it like talking to a clueless part-time clerk in a retail store who responds, “What, man? I don't know,” as he reads the packaging in a futile attempt to answer your question.

• Do they hassle with ten different vendors, buying one or two items from each, to save a few cents on the per-piece price?

Analyze what makes buying from you easy, and the costs someone incurs-short and long-term-when buying from a lower-priced alternative.

Longer Term Cost of Owning/Using the Lower-Priced Product/Service

The pain of buying poor quality lasts longer than the temporary sting of paying a front-end higher price. Assuming your product\service quality is superior, what advantages are there to buying from you? Conversely, what are the costs of not buying from you?

Will they pay more for maintenance?

What about all of the related costs of downtime?

This might seem obvious, but what can't the lower-priced alternative do that yours can? Perhaps yours can fold and staple automatically and the bargain-priced alternative can't. Ask them how they will handle the folding and stapling. Keep questioning until you're able to attach a cost to it, projecting the cost out over the life of the unit.

And by the way, here's a great question, “How long do you plan on owning/using the product/service?” This sets up your parameters to really balloon the number and help them realize the true costs over time. Especially if the lower-priced alternative doesn't last as long as yours and must be replaced.

And don't forget about service. Low price and great service usually aren't complementary. If your product/service requires lots of contact with the customer, what are the costs and related headaches of getting serviced by the bargain-priced competitor? Are they even able to get service?

Develop Your Questions

After identifying all of the costs of buying the cheaper alternative, your next step is to develop questions to help them reach the conclusion that buying from you is the best choice. The reasoning is that if you try to tell them these things, they might resist. For example, if you said, “Oh yeah, well you'll end up paying more in the long run,” forget it. They'd resist even more. No one likes to be told they're wrong. Instead, for each of the reasons you've already come up with, create questions such as,

“What do you do when . . .?”

“How often do you notice that you . . .?”

They quantify it: “And what does that cost?”

Extrapolate it over time: “So, long-term, what you're saying is that it will ultimately cost you . . .”

When you spend time at this exercise, plan well, and execute smoothly, you get them thinking and saying, “I never really thought about it that way before . . .” Which is exactly where you want them to be when you make your strong presentation.

About the Author - Art Sobczak helps sales pros use the phone to prospect, service and sell more effectively, while eliminating morale-killing "rejection. To get FREE weekly emailed TelE-Sales Tips visit: BusinessByPhone.comlling tips, sales techniques