Like most negative things in life, the best way to handle objections is to anticipate and prepare for them. Once an objection is stated, then a conversation becomes a contest with a winner and a loser; thus, great salespeople handle objections before they every become a topic of conversation.
That said, even the best sales professionals must face objections every now and then. When a customer objects to a proposed idea, what is the best way to respond?
One of the key factors in successfully responding to an objection is having an open dialogue with a customer. I have defined a three-step process that will encourage transparency, identify a win-win, and position the salesperson as a potential hero. Once the customer feels your commitment, then they will be transparent and the two of you can agree to almost any reasonable request.
Step One: Uncover their real concern. Many objections are not causing the customer to pause their decision; in fact, most of them are blanket statements with many layers, and it is one of the layers that is delaying a “yes.”
How do you uncover their real concern? First, disarm them with the words “I understand” and then mildly validate their objection. Then, ask for their “biggest” concern. Asking for their “real” concern will imply that they are not being honest. For example:
Customer: An eight-week lead time is too long.
Salesperson: I understand. As excited as we are about our success lately, it has caused our lead time to grow a little bit. I’m curious, what is your biggest concern about the extra couple of weeks?
Customer: My biggest concern is my boss not seeing work getting started for two months after I go out on a limb to recommend you.
To a creative salesperson, this is much different than an eight-week lead time being unacceptable.
Step Two: Define an acceptable solution. Now that you know their real concern, create a solution. This can be as easy as asking them what they think would be acceptable. Continuing the example conversation:
Salesperson: Part of our lead time challenge is that our senior technicians are always busy. I think we could get some basic work done to prepare for the installation and have some of the equipment drop-shipped here. We will not start the complex work for eight weeks, but your boss will see some progress in about four weeks. Will that work?
Step Three: Commit to trying. After you have reached a solution with your customer, then commit to trying. Do not guarantee anything but your effort. Even if you know that you can do it and have the authority, let them know that you need to determine whether you can provide the solution.
This last step is often skipped. Most salespeople get excited when they define the solution and enthusiastically claim “Great – we can definitely do that.” If you commit to the solution quickly, then the customer will always wonder why you did not offer it in the first place. From that point forward, they may feel as though they need to state an objection to get the best deal.
Finally, be sure to schedule time to follow-up. The conversation concludes:
Salesperson: Ok great. Let me go back to the office and figure out how much we can do. I feel pretty good about it, but I need to confirm with our distributors, and my operations director. I will know by tomorrow morning. Can you connect at 11:30 or so tomorrow?
Chris Peterson is the founder and president of Vector Firm (www.vectorfirm.com), a sales consulting and training company built specifically for the security industry. To request more info about the company, visit www.securityinfowatch.com/12361573.
