“No I don’t think so,” replies your prospective customer.“Oh! Alright. Sorry to have troubled you,” you mutter as politely as you can.
“Cheerio,” and off you got to your next prospect.
Well no - that’s not what you should do, whether it’s a face to face sales situation or on the phone. I suppose that’s not exactly true. You can if you want, but in doing so you are unlikely to achieve as many sales as you possibly could. This means less earnings, less money.
No doesn’t always mean no.
You may not consider yourself to be a salesperson but, if you think about it, isn’t selling what we are all doing every day? Whether it’s persuading the kids to do something that they don’t want to do or even suggesting to your partner that it might be a good idea to have an early night. It’s all a form of selling.
If the kids or your partner says no, do you meekly accept this? Most probably not, you’ll present a counter argument building up the benefits of them doing what you want. And this is exactly the same procedure you should adopt with business. If a customer, or whoever, says no it doesn’t necessarily mean no sale - unless that is, you walk away or put the phone down.
Look at children, most of them know how to sell. They keep on and on until they get what they want. It’s the same in the business world.
Research has shown that most sales are not achieved until the fifth or sixth attempt. The message is: Keep trying. I don’t know who does all this research but it is also said that most objections are raised due to a lack of information or understanding. In other words you have failed to get your message across properly.
Going back to everyday life, the kids haven’t understood why you needed them to do what you wanted or your partner hasn’t realised the benefits of an early night.
The word no frightens a lot of people. It shouldn’t because, if we believe in what we are ‘selling’, and can see how it would benefit the ‘customer’, it’s the prospect who will be missing out if we just turn our back. So do him or her a favour, as well as yourself, and don’t take the first no as a final answer.
There are several techniques for handling a no, or objections as they are called in sales speak.
I personally feel that a lot of so called sales techniques simply churn out a series of robots who all talk and sound the same. It’s like they have all had their individual personalities removed. But, in saying this, knowing a little about ways to overcome objections can be useful. See what you think of the following. I am presuming that you have enthusiastically presented your sales pitch to your customer, prospect, children or partner.
Your 'customer' will either:
(a) say ‘yes’ and you have made a sale or got what you want.
(b) will ask a question or make a statement or
(c) will simply say ‘no’,
If it’s (a) don’t mess about complete the sale. Don’t try and sell it all over again. Just shut up and take the money, get the customer’s signature, go upstairs or whatever else is needed.
If it’s (b) or (c) don’t panic! Remember the research mentioned. It may be just a lack of information that is making them hesitate. So, here we go with seven steps to overcoming objections.
Step 1. Pause.
Follow your prospect’s no or objections with a pause. This will give you time to think about the objection and how to handle it. If you jump in straight away you may well say the first thing that comes into your head, and this is unlikely to be the best response.
Step2. Ask questions.
Get the customer talking again. Typical questions are: “What do you mean?”, “What are the reasons for that?”, “Why do you say that?”. Instead of a question you could say something like: “Please tell me more.” Use whatever you feel comfortable with. You can’t overcome an objection unless you know exactly what it is.
If someone says, “I don’t like it,” it does doesn’t tell you much, so ask them, “Why don’t you like it?” Depending on what you are selling, the problem could be such things as colour, the shape, the price and so on. Once you know exactly what the objection is you may be able to offer another colour, a different shape or a cheaper product etc.
Step 3. Empty the customer.
You need to know that there aren’t other objections. There is often a tendency to deal with one objection only to find another one - and sometimes a further one.
So before trying to overcome the objection make sure there aren’t any more by saying something like, “Is there anything else you are not happy about?”
If they originally said they didn’t like the colour because they prefer red, they may now say that they don’t like the shape and only a round one will do.
“Is there anything else?” you ask. “No” says the customer. Great! You now know the customers only objections are the colour and shape. Time to get excited, as you have other colours and shapes. You’ve nearly made a sale!
Step 3. Lock the customer.
Having emptied the customer, of his or her reasons for saying no, you should be able to obtain a commitment that, once you have overcome the objections, you can go ahead with the sale. You can do this by using the magic word if. “If we can overcome this (the colour and shape in our example) I take it we can go ahead.” Your customer now has to commit him or herself.
Step 5. Present your counter argument.
Now you have all the facts and a commitment you are ready to overcome the objections. How can you fail!
Your counter argument must really overcome the problem and bung in a few benefits as well. “I have a round red one in stock that is also a time saving model and is on special offer this week.” Okay, this may not sound perfect but you get the general idea.
Step 6. Gain acceptance to your counter argument.
You should be able to see your commission and money now! This bit should be easy if you have done steps 4 and 5 correctly. You do this by using a ‘closed’ question. This is one where the answer has to be ‘yes' or ‘no’.
Try, “Now that is acceptable isn’t it?” or perhaps, “That answers your point doesn’t it?” How can they possibly say no. Well this is make believe! Sometimes we know that reality can be a little more difficult - but only if you believe it is.
Step 7. Close.
Close the sale, you’ve heard a ‘yes’ so get another one.
“So I take it we can go ahead?", you say in your most positive voice.
“Yes,” answers your customer. The band starts to play, everyone is cheering, you are one hell of a salesperson ...
"Yes, but …," No, you don’t have ‘buts’ if you are positive. But … what, horror of horrors, if the customer still says no.
Hey, but you’re cool. No problem. You don’t have to panic or rant and rave. You have another objection, so smile and go back to Step 1. Pause and try again.
If you feel this time that the objection the customer has raised is the only one he/she has, and that you can handle it easily, you can modify the technique and use Steps 1,2,5 and 7. Otherwise go through the Seven Steps again.
The example I have used is very simplistic but it is the principles that are important. Find out all of the objections, confirm if overcoming these will solve the problem, present the counter argument, gain acceptance of the counter argument and then close the sale.
When you give it some thought it’s quite easy really and much better than just giving in. It doesn’t have to be high pressure, or anything like that. It should be a conversation, but one where you are in control.
And listen to what customers say. Most of us are so busy thinking about what we are going to say next that we don’t always hear the signals that the other person is giving.
There may well be instances where it is obvious you are wasting your time. If someone tells you to get lost (or four letter words to that effect) it may not be a good idea to pause (Step 1) and ask them what they mean by that exactly (Step 2)!
Selling isn’t scary, it’s fun, a challenge.
Now about that early night …
Pause … (Step 1).
“What don’t you like about the idea?” (Step 2)
“I want to watch the film at 10 o’clock.”
“Is there any other reason?” (Step 3)
“No, but I don’t want to miss the film.”
“If you didn’t have to miss the film I take it we could have an early night?” (Step 4)
“Well I suppose so.”
“What if I set the DVD recorder so that you didn’t have to miss it. We could watch the film tomorrow night with a take-away and a bottle of wine.” (Step 5)
“How does that sound?” (Step 6)
“Okay, but it has to be Chinese.”
“Shall we go upstairs?” (step 7)
Look at that Body Language, she’s leaning towards me, she’s nodding her head, she’s … “Hang on a minute, I haven’t set the DVD recorder yet.”
Well in theory it’s easy!
Body Language? Perhaps I’ll cover that another time
Good luck,
Mike.
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