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August 11, 2008 (
PowerHomeBiz ) - California, USA
-- An essential step in trying to overcome a sales objection is to
understand what caused it in the first place. Knowing that may allow us to
avoid it, or, at least, help us to design better rebuttals. If our behavior
earlier in the sales process caused the objection, learning to change that
behavior will help us acquire more business.
(news continued below))
To overcome sales objections we must, first, understand who creates the
objections, and why. Only then can we develop appropriate sales rebuttals. Most sales people find that many of their potential customers tend to give
the same or very similar, sales objections. There are several reasons for
this, but the one I want you to really work on is this:
As a sales person
you have developed skills and tendencies over the years that, now, come
naturally to you. What you may not realize is you have also developed a
sub-conscious method of moving the customer into the same sales objection.
Usually, this happens with sales people who have a history of being very
successful at closing sales with a certain method. For example, lowering the
price at the end of the cycle, or giving credits to get the final approval
can often be the main culprits.
Believe it, or not, just like the
muscle-memory golfers try to gain in order to perfect their swing, repeated
sales with this, or any method, develop a muscle-memory of their own.
That
memory results in you sub-consciously moving the customer towards the type
of "close" that has been most successful for you. Unfortunately, this
frequently means that the real sales objection remains hidden until it is
too late, and at that point no sales rebuttal will help.
If you can bear one
last golf analogy, I will explain a simple method of tracking and correcting
this issue.
Golfers who wish to improve their handicap mark their scorecards
with a simple "L" or "R" while walking off of the green. What they are doing
is keeping a record of whether their putts missed the hole on either the
Left or Right.
After doing that for a number of rounds they are able to see
patterns in their misses. This information allows them to correct the
problem on the practice greens so their performance on the golf course can
improve. In the same fashion, I want you to spend a month keeping track of
the specific sales objections you hear from potential customers. Break the
data down in the following way:
1. the objections you receive while
telemarketing and cold calling
2. the objections you received during first
appointments
3. the objections you receive after delivering your proposal
At
the end of the month sit down and review the data - sort the objections by
their frequency, most frequent first, and develop sales rebuttals for the
most common sales objections. Now, you need to be exceptionally humble and
honest for the next stage. Start going through your memories of each
conversation or meeting to see whether your comments or attitude lead the
customer to those objections. Remember, the best way to overcome sales
objections is to avoid them in the first place. The results may surprise
you.
My colleagues and I decided to build the type of site that we would like our sales people to use. It has integrity as it’s corner-stone and relies on real Sales People, real Sales Leaders and Industry Experts for its content. We would be honored if you visited us.
To read more about this subject please join us at http://www.integrity-sales- leadership.com
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Louis Jordan
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