Enigin Help - Answer Sales Objections III
Enigin Distributors and Enigin Partners globally deal with sales continually. Yes we are also concerned with installs and ongoing customer support, but sales is the first process and if you’re in sales, you will run into objection.
Sales prospects have a million reasons why they don’t want to buy, or want to think things over. Most of those objections have nothing to do with what your offering, they are just part of the give and take that’s a natural part of any sale.
When new sales people hear an objection, they just hand the prospect a business card or leave a phone number - that’s the end. They never hear back, because the prospect was ready to buy, and almost undoubtedly bought from somebody else.
It doesn’t have to be that way.
There are few sales skills as important as the ability to answer objections, so let’s look at the third answer to a sales objection:
3. Discover if it’s a Roadblock or a Speedbump
There are two kinds of objections: roadblocks and speedbumps. A roadblock means that the sale is NOT going to happen; a speedbump is simply something than needs to be overcome.
Fortunately, there is only one real roadblock — when when it turns out that the customer either has no money to make the purchase or can’t get the credit to obtain the money for the purpose. That’s a deal-killer. Period.
Many objections are initially vague, often varieties of “I want to think it over.” Experienced sales pros delve into the customer’s thinking to discover the real objection, and come up with an appropriate response. For example:
Prospect: “I want to think it over.”
Sales Pro: “That’s fine… obviously you wouldn’t take the time if you weren’t serious, right?”
Prospect: “I guess not.”
Sales Pro: “Just to clarify my thinking, what is it that you need to think about?”
Prospect: “I’m not sure we have the budget.”
At this point, the sales pro needs to determine whether this actually is a roadblock (no money), or whether it’s just a speedbump (not a priority to buy).
If the former, it’s time to bail. If the latter, then the sales professional needs to raise the priority of the purchase versus other purchases. The best way to do this is to work on estimating the financial impact of not purchasing. For example:
Sales Pro: The price for this kind of offering has been going up every year. My fear is that if you don’t purchase now, you’ll end up regretting it next year, when you know you have to purchase.
By the way, if you keep on encountering objections end up in a discussion about price, you’re not laying the groundwork for a successful sale. This is always a signal that you need to do a better job of differentiating your offering.
Comments are closed!