Kevin Boyle

Overcoming objections vs objection prevention.

 
I don’t like the term “overcoming objections”, primarily because I feel it puts the saleperson “at odds” with his or her prospect or customer. (I’ll show you why in a moment).

I also feel that “overcoming objections” is reactive instead of proactive.

In my opinion good salespeople are proactive not reactive. Good salespeople know everything there is to know about their product or service, about their prospects interests, hobbies, families, affiliations, buying criteria, etc… and lastly and most importantly about their competitors offerings, their competitors policys and their competitors strengths and weaknesses.

Selling should be effortless and have a certain flow, if you present your product or service properly and you are well prepared.

The number one problem I find for most salespeople and businessowners today is they walk into a presentation and they simply are not prepared!

I think of it like a lawyer going to trial, would you win your case? More importantly, do you deserve to win your case?

If you are not prepared to present your case to win, you will lose, it’s as simple as that. Do not underestimate the value of being fully prepared for your presentations!

 
1) I have the mindset that what I am selling is the best possible solution for my client. Your thinking (mindset) is critical to your success. I also have the mindset that objections are not necessarily bad, they are simply “initial” resistance from someone who may not understand all of the pros and cons to what it is that I am proposing.

2) I ask solid indepth questions that really get my prospect talking about their expectations, their concerns, their budget, their time line, etc…

For example :

Have you ever made a great presentation to a prospect and thought, wow I’ve really nailed it! With 100% confidence you ask for the sale, and your prospect says, “I’d really like to move forward on this but I would like to speak to James in IT first.”

My question to you, is how do you overcome that objection without placing yourself at odds with your prospect?

I don’t you think you can!

But how about if you practiced objection prevention and in your appointment setting call you said…

“Besides yourself, Julie, who else is involved in the decision making process? Do you mind if we can arrange a meeting where James can attend? I would actually be very interested in his input as well.”

3) I am fully present and I LISTEN!

During the meeting, is there one person in particular who is offering resistance or being a naysayer? You MUST address that persons concerns while you are physically there doing your presentation, if not in the 5 minutes after you have left, that person will torpedo your proposal!

4) I use “success” storys to help make my points, I check with my prospects (be very mindful of their body language) to see their reactions and I proceed accordingly, and in this way I actually am able to flush out any remaining objections or concerns.

5) I use a sales technique that I developed where I speak candidly about the stereotypes, biases and beliefs about my industry and it’s products and services, and I turn it against itself, and in doing so completely Reposition my Competition.

Lastly, being well prepared has a side benefit that up until now you may not have thought of.

Being well prepared increases your self-confidence! Need I say more?

Being self confident allows you to relax and be more genuine with your prospects and customers, but more importantly it also allows your prospects and customers to be more relaxed and genuine with you.

Self confidence is one of the most important “sales skills” you can bring to the table. Think about that for a moment… can you think of a better way for “handling objections” than that?

Would you like to learn practical sales skills and strategies on how to get your foot in the door, book more sales appointments and dramatically improve your sales results?

Then go here…

 
Kevin Boyle
Author / Public Speaker / Sales Trainer and Coach
“The Secrets to Sales Mastery”

ps – Did you enjoy this post? Do you have any tricks or tips on how to prevent objections? Please feel free to add your comments!

Other Blog Articles on Overcoming Objections Techniques;

Use Storytelling to overcome objections

Overcoming Price Objections

ps. A few people have written in to ask me about using the terms “overcoming objections” even though I personally don’t believe in the concept. It really comes down to using terms that people are familiar with. That’s it!

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Use Storytelling to Overcome Objections
Are you a good story teller? Using stories is a great way to help you overcome objections.

At parties, networking functions or community events, we’ve all seen “the” guy, he’s usually the one with 6 people surrounding him, he’s generally the loudest guy in the room but also the most charismatic with a deep hearty laugh.

We all love a good story.

So my best piece of advice for anyone looking for ways to handle objections better is to brush up on their story telling skills! Stories are a window into another persons life experiences, they allow us to relate to others easier and to see life from a different perspective.

I’ll give you an example.

One of my clients is a new realtor just starting out in the business and he was having trouble getting buyers to see the value in using a realtor when they could just look for listings on the internet on their own.

I asked him a few questions about his life experiences and I asked him if he had ever bought a home. He said yes it was actually one of the prime motivators for him in becoming a realtor! I asked him why was that? His reply was that he had had a very bad experience with his realtor and at that moment he had made up his mind he would become a realtor so that no one would ever have to go through what he had too.

I asked him to tell me about it.

This is what he told me.

“When I bought my first home I didn’t know anything. I got on the internet, saw a listing I liked and I phoned the realtor. Since then I discovered it was a really lousy way to pick a realtor, but of course at the time I didn’t know that. What I didn’t know at the time was that the realtor I was contacting was actually working for the seller and that his first “duty” was to sell that home, not necessarily look out for my best interests.

The property was a townhome, it was a 1200 square foot, 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom for $180,000

When it came to negotiating on the price of the home, I thought I could save some money on the commission. My intial offer was $165,000 and my realtor (who was more interested in representing the Seller) than representing my best interests – gave up on me! That’s right, after a day of negotiation he told me flat out he couldn’t put the deal together!

I ended up closing the deal myself!

There were also some major repairs that needed to be done that I didn’t find out until after the home inspection. Overall, he turned out to the worst possible realtor for a new inexperienced buyer such as myself. I really felt he was trying to take advantage of me.

It didn’t end there, there were also costs associated with the sale that he never bothered to tell me about. I ended up eating a lot of Kraft dinners because of that guy!”

This was my reply to him.

Take your story and put it on your web site, put it in your flyers, use your story to keep other buyers from making the same mistakes you did.

When you are face to face with your customers or prospects and they give you an objection, I want you to look them directly in the eye and remember this response…

“I used to think that too… (insert your story) Bob, but what I found…”

If you want to ease your buyers concerns, take your life experiences and your customers experiences and share them as a story with your prospects. Show them you understand the nature of the problem, that you can relate to their concerns and that you have dealt with these types of issues before.

Use story telling to your advantage!

 
Kevin Boyle
Author / Public Speaker / Sales Trainer and Coach
“The Secrets to Sales Mastery”

ps – Did you enjoy this post? Do you have any tricks or tips on overcoming objections? Please feel free to add your comments!

Other Blog Articles on Overcoming Objections Techniques;

How to handle price objections

Handling Retail Objections, “I’m just looking…”

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Have you ever heard the objection “no thanks, I’m just looking.” and wondered what to do about it? Well let’s take a moment and take a look at it from a customer’s perspective. I hate shopping, I really do. I am the kind of person who likes to walk into a store, find what I am looking for within 10 seconds and quite honestly, I’m not even that fussy about the price, if it seems reasonable I’ll pay it and go on my merry way.

Secondly, I want a salesperson to greet me as soon as I walk into the store with a BIG smile and a genuine hello, and then I want you to leave me alone.

I am the world’s best buyer. If you see me walk into your store, you’re going to love me.

Or are you?

You’re going to hate me…

I’m also fickle, sometimes I actually walk into your store because I am bored, I’ve got some time to kill… Yes I hate shopping, but I do love to browse!

So what’s a poor salesperson to do?

There are several things you can do to as a retail salesperson to increase your chances of making a great impression on the person who comes into your store and is “just looking”.

The key in retail is to always appear busy. When a potential customer walks into a store you don’t want them to see the sales staff watching TV or hanging out at the sales counter.

Secondly, smile! Remember the old saying, “Smile and the world smiles with you.” You will also find when you smile your mood will be more upbeat as well. Position yourself ten to fifteen feet away from your customer, angle your body towards him or her, and make yourself busy stocking shelves or what have you; catch their eye and be smiling!

Talk to them as you would a friend who had just walked into the store. You can talk about current events: “Did you catch the fireworks last night?” or my personal favorite, “So how’s your day today, you having a good day or a bad day?” Or you can comment on something he or she is wearing. “Ah, I see a Canucks fan! Are they going to go all the way this year?”

Once you have established yourself as friendly and approachable, most people will take the logical next step and ask you for help. Remember, all the time you are keeping yourself “busy,” you can pause to chat with them casually or if their body language indicates they want to be left alone, let them browse the store unhindered.

Lastly, just as their leaving, catch them, “Excuse me sir, I just want to leave you with my business card. If you ever find yourself in this neck of the woods again ask for me and I’ll give you 10% off of your next purchase.”

Think of it as “planting seeds”. Even if the customer decides not to buy on this day, you can be sure you have made a very favourable impression, and there’s a good chance he or she will be back – and guess who they will be asking for!

Kevin Boyle
Author / Public Speaker / Sales Trainer and Coach
“The Secrets to Sales Mastery”

ps – Did you enjoy this post? Do you have any tricks or tips on how to handle the objection “no thanks, I’m just looking”? Please feel free to add your comments!

Need help on overcoming price objections?

Use Story Telling to overcome Objections

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Thank you!

Are you having problems overcoming price objections?

Do you know that in almost every single company that I work with most of the sales reps say they have trouble with price objections?

I have worked with companies in the same industries, in the same cities and their sales reps are saying the same things – our customers complain that our prices/rates are too high. So how can everyone’s prices and/or rates be too high?

The fact is it’s all a matter of perception and belief. One of my clients who has a very large and successful business with about 50 account managers was having the same problem. About half of his salespeople were having trouble with pricing objections. The reality was that his sales team was forgetting about the 5,000 clients who were using his service right now!

During the training, I urged each and every sales rep to pick up their cel phones and call their clients and customers and ask them, do you feel you are paying too much?

Puts things into a different perspective doesn’t it?

My advice to you is, don’t ever forget the people who believe in you. If they haven’t stopped believing in you and your product or service why have you?

For one, we live in a price conscious society. As a consumer it is the easiest way for me to compare products or services. There are also some who live by the creed “you don’t get what you don’t ask for” so for them it’s normal to ask for a better deal. They’re fishing, and their hoping you will take the bait.
 
Lastly, every purchase decision we make involves the risk of making a bad decision. I work hard for my money as I am sure you do. So as you can see, someone saying your price is too high doesn’t mean your price is too high.

What they are really saying is PROVE to me that buying from you is a good decision.

So taking things one step further, my belief is for someone to even mention price as an objection, means that you have a an interested buyer!

But it can mean one of two things:
 
Either your prospect or customer simply doesn’t believe you or your claims about your product or service or it’s in fact a buying signal.

The trick is how do you tell the difference? 

If someone is so concerned about not being able to afford your product or service, or that your price is not in line with other suppliers – does it not make sense that what they are really saying is – if your price was lower I would buy it.

So ask them!

Either you have a potential buyer or not. And either the real objection is price or it could be that they are just not convinced that buying from you is a wise business decision.

If you do have a “buyer”, present your products or services as worth more than they are (establish VALUE for the buyer) – it’s a mindset that I have before I even enter into the presentation.

I look at it as me being solidly planted on “my rock” – you have to have an unshakable belief in the value of the product or the service you are selling.
 
This is where market research will really pay off for you – you need to know what your competitors are offering – what their competitive advantages are and their weaknesses.

Other tools to have in your “tool box”:

1) Be up front, “Yes John, we can be perceived as being high by a person who hasn’t experienced the results of our program… (show them results). Could you see yourself benefiting from these kinds of results?

2) Show them testimonials from current and past clients who are happy with your service.

3) Show them value, take a piece of paper and write down how the results outweigh the costs.

4) Reduce price objections to the smallest number ie: If you spend $200.00 more that works out to about $16.00 per month.

5) Tell them you don’t want to lose a deal over a few dollars. Where else can I move that can help us put this deal together?

6) Make it easy for them to buy. Get creative in your billing/financing/terms – We can bill you 25% now and the rest in 30 days. (or you can offer financing).
And the best reason of all… “When you purchase this item, you also get me!”

Can you think of a better reason than that?

I honestly don’t believe in price objections. Studies show that the vast majority of all purchases are made for other reasons other than price. I know myself I am almost always willing to pay a little bit more if I know that I will get the results that I want. In fact, price rarely stops me from buying something if I think it will do what I need it to do.

So you have to ask yourself, maybe I just didn’t sell my product or service properly… maybe the price objection is a smoke screen because I didn’t sell my prospect on value. And ultimately that’s the bottom line, until you can show value, your product or service will always be over priced.

Would you like to learn practical sales skills and strategies on how to get your foot in the door, book more sales appointments and dramatically improve your sales results?

Then go here…

Kevin Boyle
Author / Public Speaker / Sales Trainer and Coach
“The Secrets to Sales Mastery”

ps – Did you enjoy this post? Do you have any tricks or tips on how you can overcome price objections? Please feel free to add your comments!

Other Blog Articles on Overcoming Objections Techniques;

Retail Objections: No thanks, I’m just looking…

Use Story Telling to Overcome Objections

If you enjoyed reading this article please let other people know about it by Digging It, Adding it to Delicious, Sharing on Facebook, Stumbling it or Tagging it on Technorati!

Thank you!