I talk to a lot of sales people, and one thing I have learned is, as soon as someone finds out you are a sales coach the conversation inevitably turns to one topic: How do I overcome objections? Young or old, green or experienced it is a never fail inevitability for the conversation. One of the primary reasons I believe most of these people are having difficulty “overcoming” objections because they are bringing the wrong attitude to the table in the first place. The minute you start to play objection handling ping-pong it puts you on the offensive and your client on the defensive. In this environment it can be difficult at best to achieve your goals even if you clearly have the best solution for the customer in the market.
I think the best advice you can get on overcoming objections comes from Stephen Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. In this book Covey explains Habit 5 “Seek first to understand, then to be understood.” What this basically says is: In order to successfully find a solution to an obstacle you must first understand its roots and meaning. Driving to a solution to soon is what will make you look desperate, or pushy.

There are four Primary types of obstacles and it is important you understand all four in order to be successful.

• Perceived obstacles (Obstacles that are perceived to exist in the sales persons own head)
• Feeling (Usually based on fear or other emotion)
• Misinformation (Obstacles that are based on things that are not true)
• Genuine (Issues that will need a more substantive solution)

Of these it is the first one (the perceived obstacle) that I believe is the most difficult for the average salesperson to not only identify but to deal with. The good news is that it is easy for sales managers to spot if you know what to look for. For most this is the obstacle that comes up in almost every appointment or phone call. The key words to look for are statements like:

• Why does no one have time to meet with me?
• Our product is too expensive.
• Why can’t we cut our price so we can compete with XYZ.
• I lost another deal because our product can not…
• Why do all my clients ask me…

When sales people have a perceived obstacle in their head they sell differently the minute they start talking about it. You will see them start to skirt an issue, soft sell price, or otherwise behave in ways that will demonstrate that they have some kind of lack of confidence in the product, and the prospect will pick up on this immediately. If you believe your clients are all to busy to come see you, you will set up the question so that it is easy to say they are too busy. You need to have 100% confidence in yourself, and your product, and be able to pass on that belief to your clients. If you close, and your client says I’d love to but you are a bit more expensive that XYZ you need to have some compelling reasons why you are better than XYZ. If allow your own internal conversation to switch to: “well they are cheaper”, or “dang it this always happens!”, you will loose deal after deal.
So how do we deal with this issue? The first step takes a little self reflection to determine if you have any perceived obstacles, and then identifying them. This is often easier to do while talking to a peer or your manager. Once you have identified what your perceived obstacle is, you need to inform yourself. Why is your product a bit more expensive? Do you have a better customer service plan? Is your product more reliable or made of higher quality parts? How have the trade journals or consumer product rating groups rated you vs. the competition? You may find that despite your higher cost no one can compete with YOU, or that the feature everyone keeps asking for is a fad not worth having.

The short answer to the perceived obstacle question is” You need to become an expert on not only your own product, but all similar ones in the market place. Not to “sell against” the competition, but to assist your clients in making the right decision. Presenting yourself as an expert will not only help you overcome your own objections, but the confidence and expertise you bring to the table will make your clients more confident in your presentations.

The next type of obstacle is the feeling obstacle. This is an obstacle based on fear or emotion. The tool that I recommend here is Feel – Felt – Found. I use this tool so much and so effectively that my friends and co-workers sometimes joke with me because it can sound a bit silly if you recognize it, but it is a very effective tool in the right situation and if used sincerely. This is how it works:

Your client says “I am afraid I can’t XYZ because of ABC.”

Like overcoming any other obstacle, the first step is to clarify by asking a question that confirms you are in complete understanding of the issue.

Frequently when fear is the cause of the obstacle what you really have is a stall, not an objection. In that situation all your client really needs is a little reassurance that everything will be ok. In that situation I will respond with something similar to this:

I can understand how you feel. Many of my clients have felt that way, but what they have found is (insert benefit statement here).

To give it to you in the form of a joke I hear on a regular basis from friends…

Me: I wish I had more time to write on my blog…
Friend: I can understand how you feel. Many others have felt that way before, but what they have found is that by drinking more coffee and sleeping less you will have no problem getting your scheduled blog posts out on time!
I understand that that is a silly example, but try it a few times and you will find it to be a extremly flexible tool for overcming fear based objections.

The next type of obstacle is one based on misinformation. The first and most important thing to remember is no matter how ridiculous the misinformation sounds it is real to them and true as far as they know. My approach to dealing with this particular obstacle is not too different from any other. There are lots of techniques out there on ways to combat misinformation, but remember a lot of customers are savvy, and will shy away if they catch you using a “technique” because it often feels dishonest or like you are trying to trick or entrap them. Here is what I have found to be the most successful. Remember that 5th habit… Seek first to understand then be understood!

1. Welcome the objection. It sounds counter intuitive, but I actually thank them for sharing the objection with me. It has to be an honest and sincere thank you… Not a cheesy fake sounding one. So if I hear an obstacle based on misinformation, my first response is always “Thank you so much for sharing that with me…
2. The second step is to clarify the objection. There are a few different ways I will clarify depending on what makes sense. The first is simply “tell me more about that.” The second is “When you say X, what do you mean exactly?” and the third is “So if I understand you correctly, what you are saying is…” This will help you to make sure the objection you perceived is the actual one they are trying to express.
3. The next step is to re-educate the client. There are a lot of ways to go about this, but I usually try to use a neutral outside source of information or written documentation like a trade journal to demonstrate the correct information in combination with an associated feature – interest – benefit check or feel – felt – found.
4. The final step is to trial close with a simple question like do you have any other questions about xyz or does that make sense?

The misinformation objection is very difficult to deal with if you do not have good rapport, so make sure you do not get offensive or defensive. Stay warm, comfortable, and open. Welcome the objection, clarify it, re-educate, and then trial close understanding and you should be in good shape!

The last type is the genuine obstacle. Really this obstacle is dealt with in much the same way as misinformation with a small twist. here is how I do it:
1. Welcome the objection with a smile.
2. Clarify by asking a open ended question.
3. Use the appropriate feature – interest – benefit statement.
4. Summarize and trial close with a good open ended question.

As you can see real issues are really the easiest to deal with. If you learn to deal with the first three appropriately the genuine obstacle is EASY!

Popularity: 14% [?]

A few years ago, I went to a pizza restaurant and suffered sub-standard service, waiting for up to an hour for my order and eating an average standard meal when it arrived. I did not complain and I was enjoyed the company that I had – I reasoning that getting angry and complaining would spoil the evening. However, I never went back to that restaurant, my opinion forever being tainted by the hidden objections to the running of that particular business. As a consumer, I had in effect, showed my objection by declining my patronage.

There are many who are by nature non-confrontational. This doesn’t mean that avoiding confrontation equates to conforming or even acquiescing to the status quo but in many ways these types of people are the most difficult to maintain as long term clients because they aren’t likely to voice an objection but will rather just leave and seek new alternatives to your products and services if they find objections to what you offer.

Though no particular vendor particularly wishes for vocal objections to the sellers products and services, when this happens it is an opportunity for the client and vendor to work together to analyse, explore and solve problems. Successfully solving a clients problems ultimately allows for a possibility to mature and develop the business relationship which further down the line can be beneficial to the vendor in selling further products and services. When clients don’t voice their concerns, the vendor is not only unaware of the problem but also misses out that opportunity to use that situation to improve the relationship. So how can you minimise this possibility?

If you were to analyse the possible reasons why a client or customer doesn’t voice an objection you could list several, perhaps including the following:

1. Not worth the trouble
2. Not enough time
3. The objection isn’t worth the effort of reporting
4. I’ll just offer my custom to someone else
5. Don’t believe in angry complaining

Most, if not all these reasons is indicative of a superficial business relationship. The chances of this happening with a close personal or professional business relationship are minimal due to the ease in which customers can approach the sellers, therefore the solution as easy it may seem is to encourage an atmosphere where customers and clients can easily approach you. Though it isn’t possible to anticipate or even encourage everyone, being proactive and initiating dialogue is an important factor in fostering a conducive environment for discussion.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Objections are a fact of life for all salespeople. And anyone who’s sold for a while knows that objections come in two major varieties:

• “Real” objections – where the question or issue the client raises really is what they are concerned about.
• “Smokescreen” objections – where the objection raised is a cover to a deeper concern the client doesn’t (yet) want to admit to.

Overcoming real objections is difficult – but achievable. Common objections can be pre-empted, discussed when raised, and frequently addressed. Not always, of course: sometimes the objection highlights that the seller’s product or service just isn’t quite right for the buyer. But often the objection relates to an issue which can be addressed. Sales training courses and books on “how to sell” abound with advice on overcoming these objections.

But a far more difficult challenge is when the objection raised is a false one – a smokescreen covering what the real objection is. No amount of pre-empting or discussion or negotiating can overcome a smokescreen objection – because it’s not the real issue. Until the real issue is out on the table, you are essentially stuck.

Smokescreen objections need to be handled in a different way. They can be avoided – by the client raising the real issue in the first place; or if they do arise, by working through them to get to the real issue. But this is far easier said than done.

Why do clients raise smokescreen objections in the first place? They don’t do it just to be difficult – although it might feel that way sometimes. Primarily, they do it because they don’t feel comfortable discussing the real issue.

Perhaps they’re not the real decision-maker – but don’t want to lose face. Or they don’t fully understand some elements of what you’re proposing – but are embarrassed by their lack of knowledge. Perhaps the solution you’re discussing with them will cause political issues in their company that they don’t feel comfortable discussing. Perhaps they don’t have the budget available – but don’t want to be seen as “cheap”.

It could be one or more of a myriad of issues. But usually it will be something that is embarrassing or difficult for them to admit to an outsider.

And that’s the clue as to how to address the problem. The common factor is that – at the moment – they don’t feel comfortable sharing the real issue with you.

In life, some people are more open and candid than others. Some will willingly share their life story and all their problems after 10 minutes – others will remain reserved even after years of friendship. But most of us are essentially cautious with strangers and more open with people we know and trust.

So the secret is: the more trust you have built up with your potential client; the more they believe you have their interests at heart; the less likely they will be to raise smokescreen objections. And if they do raise them, the more likely it is that your follow-up questions and discussions will actually dissolve the smokescreen and get to the real issue.

How is trust built up?

According to Charles Green, author of “Trust-based Selling”, the core components of trust can be summarised in the equation:

T = (C + R + I) / S

Where T is Trust, C is Credibility, R is Reliability, I is Intimacy and S is Self-Orientation.

So in other words, trust can be increased by improving your client’s perception of your credibility and your reliability, by getting “closer” to them, and by decreasing their perception of how much you are interested in your own objectives over theirs.

In my experience, the key area to focus on for most sales professionals is decreasing their Self-Orientation.

Salespeople already know how to establish their credibility, they work on establishing a relationship with their prospective client to establish intimacy; and they do as much as they can to establish their reliability (turning up on time, always following up on agreed actions, etc.). But the area where they most often fall down on is their self-orientation.

Mahan Khalsa uses a wonderful phrase in his book on selling consulting services, “Let’s Get Real Or Let’s Not Play”: Intent counts more than technique.

If you truly have the client’s best interests at heart it will shine through in your interactions with them – even if your sales techniques are somewhat rough around the edges. Conversely, even if your questioning techniques are excellent, you are perfectly using body language to try to establish rapport, and you have killer closing skills; if the client believes that everything you are doing is purely out of self-interest then they will never open up and share with you their real concerns.

This sounds simple in theory. But it goes against the grain of most sales training and advice. Salespeople are trained to take control, to push, to close, close, close. But does your client want to be pushed? Do they want to be out of control of their own buying process? Do they want you to try to close, close, close? All these actions tell the client graphically that you care much, much more about getting the sale than you do about helping them achieve their goals. And the last thing they’re going to do is let you beyond the smokescreen and share their deep seated, personal concerns.

But really start with your client’s interests at heart and everything you do will show that to them. From the questions you ask (and don’t ask) to the way you listen. When your clients truly believe you care (and, of course, this means that you really do care) they will begin to share with you their real concerns. And then you can begin to address them together and proceed towards a sale.

Popularity: 8% [?]

One day people will stop trying to apply standard rules to circumstances and educate sales people to be agile. Actually, who am I trying to kid; people want nice tidy packages and when you can generally say that a rule applies to every situation, it provides a sense of security. No matter how false, at least for a moment, there is this safety net.

Well, let me apologize in advance for debunking one of the oldest adages in modern day selling. While I am a firm believer in listening to your clients and building your plans based on what you hear, the 80/20 rule does not apply to selling the new. In fact the 80/20 rule of listening 80% of the time and speaking 20% of the time is simply ridiculous in corporate world in general. With our modern day workloads, most prospects possess a get to the point communication style. Once you develop a relationship based on mutual trust, conversations start to reveal myriads of information, however prospects today are too busy to enlist in a Q and A session without a clear understanding of why.

When you are positioned to offer something that changes the way things are done, it is human nature to question and doubt this change. The possibilities of negative impact are instinctive as we are trained to challenge anything that may interrupt the comfort of the current way. Fear of the unknown is another myth. Yes, the phrase I used in the article of this pot is a complete fallacy. You cannot fear something you are not aware of, it is impossible. Instead what people fear in these moments is the impact of change. Negative impact means more work, or unhappy bosses, or losses that cost time, money, or employment. These are the things people fear, whether they are aware of it in a concrete manner or it is just a feeling.

Except for in the rarest of occasions, the Sales Evangelist meets these objections in the very beginning of every new selling relationship. The company is unknown and your offering untested by the market. If you attempt to open doors by slicing of a quick and compelling entry statement then jump into asking questions, chances are you will lose more opportunity than you create. Instead, might I suggest thinking about how to assuage the instinctive doubts that are headed your way.

How? Well people love to know that they are becoming part of something. If you are proposing that they commit to your offering financially, help them see why others have made the same decisions. Handle the objections of fear by telling a story. As you move through the initial phases of discovery, share the path other clients made by relating who had the same questions and concerns. Reveal to them how much they have in common with other prudent buyers and see that fear convert to comfort. Uncover the similarities between what they want to accomplish and what others have done with your offering and suddenly you have a budding opportunity.

There is no way you can develop this trust by fending off questions and trying to get your prospect to do most of the talking. If you do not share openly with them, these fears blossom into well crafted objections. Objections in many ways are like a piece clay. It is much easier to change their form before you have someone else doing the shaping. If left alone, the other artist will fire it and then they are no longer malleable. Sure, you can shatter it, but now you have the issues of picking up all of the broken pieces. The challenges we face are easier met head on and if we get four hands in the shaping of the objection, it usually changes form and becomes a sale.

Sales Training for Startups

Popularity: 7% [?]

When you ask reps what they hate most and what they would like covered in training programs, overcoming objections usually is one of the top three things on the list.  It is one of those things built into the mythology of sales that takes on a larger than life place in the process.  Well I think objections are over blown, and those that claim to consistently overcome are usually the ones blowing.

 

First, let’s see what the definition of objection(s) is:

a: a reason or argument presented in opposition b: a feeling or expression of disapproval

 

Second, let’s look at when in the sales cycle they tend to be most prevalent.  Usually right at the start, then right near the very end of the sale.  In both instances, if you are properly prepared, objections are really opportunities that can move the sales forward, and rather than having to be “overcome”, they should utilized and welcomed.  Yes, welcomed, no, I am not mad.

 

Looking at the definition, it is clear that for an objection to really occur, there needs to be two parties to the conversation, I would argue that at the beginning of any sale, when you first engage (or try to engage) with the prospect, I would argue that the conversation does not really have two equal participants.  The person you are trying to engage with usually has other priorities, and is busy trying to get back them, their response while negative, is not really an objection.  It is a push back, they do not want to engage, and unless you change that they will not engage, so based on the definition above it is not an objection since it is very one sided at this point.

 

I have sold to lots of people who initial response was negative, but they were not objecting to the fact that I might help their team sell better, nor were they objecting to more accurate forecasts, they certainly were not objecting to a shorter sales cycle.  They were just trying to get away from an unplanned call that is interrupting their never ending and growing to do list.  So they say “I am busy”, well yes they are, but that is not objection.  They say “I am not interested”, well they are not interested in being taken off task in a day where they are already trying to cram 16 hours worth of work into 10 hours.

 

So rather than worrying about overcoming the objection, the question becomes how to use it to attain your objective, i.e. developing a prospect.  First you need to recognize that it is not an objection but a hurdle thrown out in the hope that you will trip and they can get back to what they are doing.  It is not that you are a seller, or what you are trying to sell, it is the fact that at that point in time, we are an interruption they would rather not have.

 

You need to address the “I am not interested”, deal with it and use it to continue the call, and move towards a conversation.  Once you are in a conversation, there are two participants, and you can objections, but if you engage in a dialogue, that doesn’t happen till you get towards the end of the cycle. In between the two points you are likely to get questions and challenges; but questions are good, they lead to discussion, require explanation, however they cannot be described as being “in opposition” or “of disapproval”. 

 

The end of the cycle is the other area where “objections” seem to surface.  Here again, sales people see objections where there may be none.  Remember that no matter what you sell, it represents change for the buyer, whether it is a new product/service or a new provider, they are about to change the “Status Quo”.  As sales people we deal with this everyday, but for each of the prospects we sell to it is a unique event, and we have to allow for that.  The prospects’ emotions are coming to the surface, they are nervous and with that tend to think out loud ask questions, and generally make sales people very nervous.  Unfortunately, many sales people mistake this for objections when they are not; it needs to be viewed in the proper context. 

 

The proper context is that prospects are re-examining and reinforcing their decision, some the questions may be around areas that had already been dealt with and covered, and you may need to deal with them again, but they are not objections.  If you see them and treat them as objections, you are dealing with the wrong way, which just exasperate the situation.  Not managed right this can spiral down and jeopardize the deal; managed correctly, they can help close the deal.  Handel each one directly as they come up.  If you have already covered it, cover it again, confirm that it is resolved and move on.  If it is a new area, understand what the real underlying issue is, don’t gloss over things hoping to skip past it, deal with it, and close it off before moving on. Do not get defensive, get thorough.

 

The re is one specific “objecting” that many sales people fear, that can also be dealt with is a similar fashion, the “price objections”.   Not easy to deal with, but often it is more a value gap than a price issue.  In most instances, it does come down to an absence of value.  This usually is the fault of the sales person; we tend to rush the process, or fail to define the value.  I have watched hundreds of sales people sell, and in a great majority of cases it is the sales person that brings up price first, not the prospect, and as soon as the issue is raised, it becomes THE issue.  I guess they bring it up because they are so spooked by it they just want to get it out there.  Once you slow down and focus on value, full cost of ownership, risk of inaction and other important factors, the situation can be managed.  (For a full and helpful discussion on this area read How to Sell at Margins Higher Than Your Competitors: Winning Every Sale at Full Price, Rate, or Fee by William T. Brooks, Lawrence L. Steinmetz)

 

 

Tibor Shanto

Popularity: 10% [?]

Hearing customers’ objections is a day-to-day occurrence for many salespeople. No matter how refined your sales approach, customers will still express concerns (objections) that can act as an obstruction to the closing of the sale. The wildly successful salesperson understands how to handle these objections so that the selling process can move forward, and ultimately, the transaction will close.

Here are six important sales behaviors to make sure your customers’ objections don’t derail your sales progress:

1. Preempt objections.

Skilled salespeople can anticipate many, if not most, buying objections. Doing so allows them to be preempted even before the prospect has voiced them. Preventing the objection is always be more effective than waiting to address an objection after it’s been announced by the customer.

2. Relax!

Handling objections can be one of the most challenging points in the path to achieving a sale (notice those sweaty palms?). But don’t let your anxiety affect your prospect.

If you chill out, your prospect is more likely to chill out. Handling an objection is challenge enough; trying to do so with a tense customer elevates the challenge.

Whereas most salespeople physically sit forward toward the prospect when “confronting” an objection, the opposite approach will help manage the tension in the room and encourage your prospect to continue engaging with you. Sit back (not forward), slow down, and take a cleansing breath!

3. Validate your prospect.

Most salespeople verbally confront an objection immediately upon hearing one. They go into convincing mode to try to change the prospect’s mind.

But convincing mode can actually reinforce the customer’s objection. Validating your prospect can have the opposite effect. Make sure the first words out of your mouth after you hear an objection be validating words. These could be as simple as, “Thank you for sharing that information with me.”

I absolutely love to surprise customers with a validation statement when they least suspect it, as in the following example:

Prospect: “I want to get some other bids just to see how your pricing compares to your competitors.”

Salesperson: “It’s great to see that you are doing your due diligence as a consumer. That’s fantastic!”

While this approach may seem counter-intuitive to achieving a closed sale, it will often take you farther with your prospect, because validation works for two reasons:

(1) It is a surprise to the prospect, because they expect a rebuttal from the salesperson (their history of contact with salespeople has taught them well!). When a customer hears validation for what he’s just shared with you, he experiences an immediate sense of relief. Since human beings like to feel relief, and your prospect is most likely a human being, you will have been responsible for fostering a positive emotion in your prospect;

(2) This sense of relief can be leveraged into longer hang time with your prospect (hang time is the amount of time a prospect is willing to continue to discuss your product and their purchase after they have stated an objection). If the customer awards you with sufficient hang time, you can have additional conversation about the prospect, his needs, and his reaction to your proposal. More conversation equals another opportunity to close the deal.

4. Ask for permission to discuss the objection.

After validating the customer, ask for permission to continue the conversation, saying something like, “Can we talk about that?”

Customers will almost always say “yes,” which is your green light to continue conversation. An engaged customer is more likely to buy from you than a disengaged customer, so keeping the customer actively involved in conversation is key.

5. Remember, some objections are false objections.

I believe over half of the objections that are verbalized by customers are false objections: they’re either objections created by the prospect’s automatic response mechanism (we all have this mechanism; this is the mechanism which makes us say “I need to think about it” automatically) or they’re conscious lies. Beware! Treating all objections as gospel truth will get you nowhere.

One way to determine the validity of an objection is to isolate the objection. For instance, if your customer just told you he wasn’t buying because the prospect’s spouse has to be in on the decision, you could ask the following isolation question:

“If your spouse was here and said yes to this purchase tonight, would we be writing it up this evening?”

It’s at this point that you’ll either get a clear affirmation of the objection from your prospect (which often indicates that this objection is a genuine objection), or you’ll hear an additional objection. And this is often the real objection! (Example: “Well, it’s more money than we had planned on spending.” Bingo! That’s the real objection!).

6. Ask for the sale again.

After handling the objection, don’t forget to ask for the order again. It’s surprising how many salespeople leave the objection dangling without bringing it to closure.

Popularity: 21% [?]

A curious word, ‘objection’, the noun that is used to express opposition… and it is a word that is often used in at least two professions that immediately spring to mind. I can see a court room drama where one lawyer is standing up questioning the witness and all of a sudden the other lawyer, who was sitting down while listening intently, suddenly, but not unexpectantly (by the standing lawyer at least), jumps to his feet and shouts… “Objection… objection my lord…” The until now quiet lawyer sitting down has shouted his expression of opposition to the questioning of the witness… and having expressed his opposition the lawyer has to quickly follow up with his reasoning for the objection, otherwise the judge will express his curiosity in a manner that befits his position. Having listened to the reasoning the judge will give his verdict… he will either allow the objection or dismiss it… and if only it was just so simple in that other profession I was thinking of… sales.

In sales, the objection predominately comes from the Buyer and the Seller has to arouse their full curiosity in order to effetely deal with the objection. Unlike the example with the judge the Seller cannot dismiss the objection… the objection has to be accepted… it is real and it is valid, no matter how trivial the objection appears to the Seller, no matter how ultimately the objection is of little relevance, it is real to the Buyer and cannot be dismissed by the Seller if he wants a successful outcome. There has been plenty written about how the Seller should handle the Buyer’s objection, but not so much written about how the Seller should themselves use the objection process.

The ‘objection’ is not for the exclusive use of the Buyer… the Seller can also use the process to their benefit. The Seller objection is mainly used to test the commitment of the Buyer. The worst thing a Seller can do is ‘flog a dead horse’, not literally of course…obviously metaphorically speaking… and so the meaning of this idiom… to flog a dead horse is to waste time trying to do something that will not succeed. Sellers must not waste time with potential Buyers who… will not be… will not be buying that is. As Sellers we know that we want Buyers who are committed to the process and who will be buying.

The first way to use the Seller’s objection is right up front in the initial meetings. After you have done your preliminary chat, built rapport and started exploring their need you find the opportunity to discuss the reasons why the deal may not go ahead…

“Mr Buyer, in our experience deals of this nature often don’t proceed because… there is not enough budget… the risk is seen as too high… Buyers are just looking to keep incumbent supplier in check… the risk / reward is not understood… the imperative to address the need is not compelling… etc, etc”

You are giving the Buyer all the objections and you are waiting for him to confirm or deny them. If he confirms them then you have the objection right up front and enough time to hopefully deal with it. If he denies them and denies them convincingly then you probably don’t have to worry about that one. You finish the process by asking…

“Is there anything else that could stop this deal going ahead?”

What you are looking for is the Buyer to convince you to stay in the deal… and if he is not convincing then what does that tell you about the likely outcome for you?

Another use of the Seller’s objection is at the end of the process. You want to test the commitment of the sponsor to the deal… you want to find out if they are prepared to fight for the sign-off and obtain the necessary authority to proceed to closure.

The Seller opens the conversation… “Mr Buyer, I understand that you are going to the board to obtain the sign off”

“Yes, tomorrow” replies Mr Buyer.

“Good… however, I was wondering what your back up plan would be if you don’t get the go ahead?” replies Mr Seller.

“I don’t need one because I will get the sign off” replies the Buyer in a confident tone.

“ah”, replies the Seller, “but what would happen if it does not go your way?”

“It will go my way” replies a slightly irritated Buyer.

“I understand that, but just humour me… what would you do if you don’t get the go ahead” responds the Seller in a quiet, but determined and measured voice.

“I will… get… the sign off” replies the Buyer, who is clearly becoming increasingly irritated by the consistent questioning of his ability to achieve the sign off.

“I know you will, but just hypothetically, what would you do if for whatever reason the board doesn’t agree… what would your plan be then?” retorts the Seller in a calm, but inquisitive manner.

“I’m not telling you again” replies a very angry Buyer, “I will get the sign off, and if you push any more the deal is off” fumes the buyer by now is red in the face and blowing steam out of his nostrils and ears in clear indignation of the further constant questioning of his ability.

“Ok, I believe you will” replies the happy and smiling Seller.

What’s happened here is the Seller is using a type of objection by pushing the Buyer to the point of anger to test his desire and motivation to get agreement at the board. If for whatever reason the Buyer is not given the go ahead at the board meeting, what do you believe his commitment will be to push back?… after all, he has fumed and shouted at the seller not to question his ability to get the sign off… and if he goes back and says he did not get it, then it is egg on face while eating humble pie… not pleasant… and so the Buyer has no choice but to fight his corner!

If however, during the questioning process the Buyer capitulated and agreed that he had a back up plan then the Seller knows the Buyer is not going to fight for the ‘yes’ decision as he has a plan to fall back on… and after hearing the plan the Seller would say…

“I understand the plan, but you know what?… I don’t think we are fully ready to take this to the board yet… we will probably only get one chance and we need to be fully prepared for all outcomes… let’s work on this deal a little longer to ensure when we do go we will get success”

Clearly the Seller needs to work on the Buyer to make sure he is fully committed to achieving the ‘yes’ decision.

So, there we go… two different ways the Seller can use an objection!

Popularity: 8% [?]

The account manager stood across from my desk and held out his latest written presentation.

“Take a look at this and let me know what you think,” he said.

I looked it over.  What I was looking at was a typical presentation.  Nothing too interesting about it and nothing too objectionable, either.  While searching for thoughts to share with the seller, I came up with . . . 

“It’s a baked potato,” I replied.  (I was thinking dry and boring.)

“A baked potato?”

“Yes.”

“What do you mean, it’s a baked potato,” he demanded.

Noticing his agitation, I decided to avoid the question and ask one of my own.

“Why wouldn’t she buy this?”

“Why wouldn’t she buy this?” he parroted.

I waited since he had obviously heard and understood the question.

“I don’t know.  Maybe she thinks it’s too expensive or it won’t work.”

“Why wouldn’t it work?” I probed.

“I think it will work.  I was just trying to answer your question.  She might think it won’t work and if she thinks that then she won’t buy it.”

“Then tell me why it will work, instead” I challenged.

“This is a great promotion!  The Ford dealership has several Flex vehicles on the lot.  We have proposed to create a promotion in which our listeners can build their own family vacation.  The trick is that it has to be a driving vacation.  They can go to Disney World or they can go camping in the mountains or go to the beach.  They choose the basic itinerary and then build their prize around it.  They might choose to receive camping gear or scuba diving equipment or whatever goes with the vacation they choose.  The whole thing is a play off of the Ford Flex.  The Flex is a 7-passenger vehicle but it can be reconfigured depending on whether you are hauling people or gear or some combination of the two.  You see, it’s FLEXible – just like the prize in our promotion.”

His enthusiasm was contagious and I was getting fired up.  But, there was still more work to be done to overcome the objections.

Oh, you didn’t notice any objections.  Go back to my conversation with this seller and notice that he thinks the objections are that the price is too high and that the promotion won’t work.  But, wait, those aren’t the prospect’s objections, those are the possible objections.

Too often, we act as if we don’t know the objections because we haven’t yet made the presentation.  Most of the time, that’s not true.  We do know most of the objections because we can anticipate them from our previous history with the current account and with other similar accounts.  We can anticipate the objections because they might be our objections if we were asked to buy what we are selling.

Since my seller anticipates at least two objections, we should address those possible objections in the presentation.  Let’s get back to the conversation:

“Wow, the promotion does sound great!  Tell me again the purpose of the promotion.”

“We have been tasked with driving traffic to Ford dealers.”

“Will the consumer sweepstakes you are proposing drive traffic to the dealerships?”

“Without a doubt.”

“So, you are convinced the promotion will work and can easily handle that objection.  Is the promotion too expensive?”

“It’s within the budget I was given.”

“Okay, let’s recap.  You anticipated two primary objections and are prepared to handle both.  Now, do one more thing and put those objections into the presentation.  Put them right in there and then answer them.  What this will do for you is allow the presentation to stand on its own when it is passed along to those who couldn’t make the meeting but are part of the decision.”

Key lesson:  Don’t wait until you make the presentation to begin the process of overcoming objections.  Anticipate the most probable objections and make a winning argument to overcome them within the presentation itself.

Popularity: 9% [?]