What's behind that objection?

Someone once asked me "How do you know when a prospect is lying?" The answer "Their lips move!" While this might not be completely accurate, customers seldom give you the real reason they won't buy an ad. They may say they don't need it or that they don't have the money but this may not be what they're really thinking. In my experience Here are the questions customer ask themselves when they hesitate to buy something from you:

• What's in it for me? Where's the value?


• Why should I buy from this guy? Is he/she here to help me or just to sell me something?


• What's the big difference? What do they offer that I'm not getting from what I do now?


• How will spending this extra money help me?

Answer these unspoken questions and you are sure to get the sale.

Keep Smiling, Keep Selling!

Thanks

Jim Busch

The #1 cause of objections

I believe the leading cause of objections is bad timing on the part of the salesperson. When a sales person makes a recommendation before identifying the customer's problems and proving the value of his publication the customer is bound to object. They have no reason to buy because they don't see how buying an ad can benefit them. Closing becomes easy and objections rarely occur when the sales person asks good questions about the customers needs and then proposes a solution to the solve their problems. Making a recommendation before clearly identifying a customer's is setting yourself up for failure.

Keep Smiling, Keep Selling!

Thanks

Jim Busch

"Send me some literature"

"Send me some literature and I'll think it over" is a customer's way to give you a "nice no." it is a non-confrontational way to give you the brush off. The best way to handle this "request for more information" is to give it back to them. "Mr./Ms. Customer, I'm glad your interested in my products and I'll be happy to send you some more information. First let me ask you a few questions so that I can determine exactly what to send you." This engages the customer in conversation and moves the sales process along. If you just blindly send out a brochure, it will go directly to the waist basket and it is likely the customer will be "unavailable" to take your follow-up call. Using this technique you will be able to engage the customer and gauge their true need and interest.

Keep Smiling, Keep Selling!

Thanks Jim B.

Feel-Felt-Found

Feel, Felt, Found is one of the oldest and most effective ways to handle an objection. Here's how it works:
Customer- I think your price is a little high
Rep-I can understand how you feel, you need to be focused on value. Many of my current customers felt that way in the past. When they looked further into what you get for your investment, just pennies per home, they found that advertising in my paper is a great value.

Feel validates the customers feelings and defuses the situation, Felt further validates the feeling and note the possibility of change, Found addresses the objection. You can change the words but keep the order of the steps.

You may think this is too "old school, I've trained reps on this in class and they often said Feel-Felt-Found was "hokey" but came around when I demonstrated the technique in the field and they saw how well it works. (Notice the sequence of the last sentence) Practice this and then try it on your next call, this is a true "oldie but goodie!"

Keep Smiling, Keep Selling!

Thanks Jim Busch

The Toughest Objection

The toughest objection we face is "I've tried your publication in the past and it didn't work." It is very challenging to overcome an objection that comes from the customer's own experience. The key to addressing this problem is asking good questions. It is important to determine what type of program the customer ran and how often. Very often you will find that the customer ran one or two small ads with no offer. You will need to build rapport and try to establish trust with the customer. Eventually you may be able to get the advertiser to try your publication because of your relationship. Of course you need to give the customer the best possible program with a compelling offer. Remember no "NO" is ever permanent. Good selling skills and patience will win over the toughest customer.

Keep Smiling, Keep Selling!

Thanks Jim Busch

Secure Confimation

After answering an objection, confirm the fact with the prospect before you proceed. Once you have addressed the objection ask the prospect "Does that answer your question?" or say something like "Do you have any other concerns?" Sometimes a customer will nod even if they have not been fully convinced. This practice will ensure that you have truly addressed the objection. By speaking the words, the customer confirms that the issue has been resolved in his own mind. You will never be able to close a sale if the customer still holds objections, it is much better to meet them head-on and put them behind you.

Keep Smiling, Keep Selling!

Thanks Jim Busch

The answer may be a question

When a prospect compares your publication unfavorably to a competitive product the best way to handle them might be a question. For instance if someone says "I can get that same ad for half as much in the XYZ paper" your best response might be to ask them "How do you think they can afford to do that?" After you ask the question, be quiet and wait for the customer to respond. Your customers are business people and they understand that you get what you pay for. If they say they don't know, you can probe further. you can ask them if they think it might be because of their smaller circulation, or the quality of their product. Your goal is to reframe the conversation away from price and on to the relative value of your product. If you can get the customer thinking value you are much more likely to move beyond the objection and close the sale.

Keep Smiling, Keep Selling!

Thanks Jim Busch

When to close

As a young sales person I was told to remember my "ABC's" ALWAYS BE CLOSING. I was also taught a number of "trick closes" such as the "rolling pen close" This involved placing a ballpoint on a contract and letting it roll toward the customer. When the customer picked it up, the salesperson would say "Since you have the pen in your hand already, why not sign the contract right now" Very hokey, but I knew reps who actually closed sales this way. Pressuring or tricking a customer is more likely to get you thrown out rather than close a sale today. Research has found that pressing for a close too early actually increases the customer's resistance.



When should you close? You should close when you have uncovered a problem that you can solve with your product. Most objections are a result of poor timing. If you can uncover a problem and convince the customer that you can solve it for them, closing becomes easy, the customer will want to buy the ad. Most sales people I have observed do not spend enough time probing the customer to uncover opportunities to help them. If you try to close before you can show how your product will make the customer's problems go away, you will get an objection.



Keep Smiling, Keep Selling!



Thanks Jim Busch

A "Risky" Question

When a prospect seems interested but can't seem to make a decision they may have some concerns which they are reluctant to share with the rep. Most buyers are risk averse, they are afraid of making a mistake. I sometimes will ask them "Mr. Customer, do you see any risks in proceeding with the program we've discussed?" This forces them to lay their cards on the table. If they say "no" then suggest that you move ahead with the order. If they share a perceived risk with you, the hidden objection is exposed and you can address it. Many reps are afraid to expose a customer's concerns because they are afraid they will not be able to counter them effectively. This just wastes a rep's time. Leaving an objection hidden just prolongs the agony, you will never make a sale until it is cleared away. If you can't answer it, at least you can move on to the next prospect. If you can alleviate the customer's fears, you get the sale.

Keep Smiling, Keep Selling!

Thanks Jim Busch

When they love your competitor

What do you do when a prospect tells you "I am very pleased with my ad in your competitors paper" ? You can't disparage the other paper without offending the client. Like most sales situations, the answer to this is a question. I ask the prospect "Why do you think your program is working so well?" Listen to the customer to find out what they are looking for. Think about the advantages that your product offers. If you cover areas that the competitor does not reach follow up with "If the competitor paper could reach x number of additional readers, do you think you would get even better results?" and then say "My paper could give you that extra circulation."

Instead of trying to change the customer's mind, build on the beliefs they hold. Present your solution as "more of a good thing" rather than as something different. Once you get a share of the business, win a bigger share by giving the customer superior service and some great ideas to build their business.

Keep Smiling, Keep Selling

Thanks Jim Busch

"Knee Jerk" Objections

What do you do when you walk into a customer's place of business (or call them on the phone) and they immediately say "NO". This is what I call a "knee jerk" objection. They are not really objecting to what you have to offer, at this point they don't even know what you are offering. They are conditioned by long experience to react to salespeople with an immediate rejection. The best way to handle this situation is to step around it.

I start with a bit of verbal Judo. I respond to the prospect by saying something like "That's okay, I wish everyone would buy something from me, but I know that's not realistic. Thank you for your time." This statement defuses the situation and sets up my next move. Next I start a conversation about their business. I will ask a question about something on display in their store or something in their office. I may ask them how long they've in business, anything to start them talking.

When they first identify you as a salesperson, the prospect erects a barrier to keep you away. By engaging the prospect in conversation you begin to crack that barrier. The longer you keep them talking the less they think of you as a salesperson and the more they think of you as an individual. You can then start asking questions to uncover needs and move on to a sale. This technique is much more effective than trying to confront the objection directly.

Keep smiling, keep selling.

Thanks Jim Busch

The "I'm too busy to talk" objection

When confronted with broccoli my son used to say "Save it and I'll eat it later." If my wife and I let him get away with this ploy, "later" would never come. When customers say something like "I am just too busy to talk, call back in a few weeks." you can bet if you called them hourly for the next ten years, you would never catch them during that mythical "slow" time when they will give you all the time you need. Give the customer the benefit of the doubt, but if you get this objection more than once or twice, you need to force the issue.

Lay everything on the line and tell them:

"Mr. Smith, you and I know that you will be just as busy next month. That's why we should talk now. I have some ideas that can help your business. We should meet soon. I promise you that I won't take much of your time and that you'll find it time well spent. Would tomorrow afternoon or morning be better for you?"

One of two things will happen. You'll the appointment or you'll find out that the customer is just stringing you along and wasting your time. This will let you put them on the back burner and free up time to call on better prospects.

Keep smiling, keep selling

Thanks Jim Busch

The "Word of Mouth" Objection #1

"I really don't need to advertise. I get all of my business by word of mouth." "Word of Mouth" is a tough compeititor, it's free and generally it comes from a trusted source. My next few blogs will discuss handling this objection.

When I hear the WOM objection, I avoid challenging the prospect. I begin by praising them, "Congratulations, you must certainly be doing something right for customers to recommend your business so often. What are they saying about what you do here." This strategy pushes the objection aside and engages the customer in a discussion about their business. If the customer is simply using the WOM objection to chase you away, the objection will evaporate as they tell you about their favorite subject--themselves. If you challenge the customer, you force them to defend their initial statement. By accepting their statement at face value you create an opportunity to build rapport and begin probing for needs.

Next time we'll look at another technique to handle the WOM objection.

Thanks--Jim B