The Blog For Entrepreneurs

What Is An Objection?

Firstly, before we get down to the nitty gritty, you need to get straight in your mind what an objection is. I have seen so many sales people and entrepreneurs not live up to their potential because they do not have the right mental attitude towards objections and so crumble like a sand castle on a windy day.

To illustrate, let me ask you this: If you have a job selling widgets and I am a customer and I say your product is “too expensive”, what am I saying?

When I ask this of those I am training they will say the product ‘does not give enough value for the price’ or ‘the clients is just not interested’ or ‘they already use another product’ or one of twenty different ‘reasons’.

Who is right? The fact is that all of them or none of them are right. You have to look at, and think of, an objection as a ‘request for further information’. You see the only way we could know what this prospect really means is by asking him. Too many times, however, a sales person will give up at this point.

The only way I can explain this fully is let’s say you were selling a product that reduced household bills by 95%. It was totally genuine and revolutionary, you had tested it yourself and you knew, 100%, that this product worked and it cost $100. If someone on the phone said ‘it’s too expensive’ what would you say? As a mater of fact, what would you think?

Let’s face it, you would probably think that they didn’t quite understand what you had said! Why? Because you are telling them that your product could reduce their bills by 95%! They must have misunderstood!

You would probably say something like “OK Sir, I understand, but let me ask you this, how much are your annual energy bills?” Let’s assume he said $1000. Your response would have to be “Sir, the product I am offering you today costs $100. You will, therefore, save around $950 this year, this product pays for itself in the first couple of months”. If he still didn’t get it, what would you say? Of course you would carry on until you realised the prospect was either not all there or totally not interested.

Objection Handling A Trick?

You see objection handling is treated by many sales people as a trick, something that is created at the point of sale, written down in the objections book, it is not, it is something that is created by the sales person’s knowledge and belief in the product. If some kind of tricks have to be employed, or that is the way you think of them, then your belief in the product is not there, or your understanding of the products is not up to speed.

Assuming that you do understand your product and you do believe in it, then here are some great objection handle frames for you to work your product into:

‘Too busy’

“I understand, I hear that a lot from most people when I speak with them for the first time. For me it either means that they are not interested in (saving money/investing in a winning product/hearing about how they can reduce costs….. ie. the benefits of your product) or just are too busy to talk about it right now.. which are you?” – Usually they will pick the second. Make an ‘appointment’ for a call to speak more about your products.

or

“I understand exactly what you are saying, however, all I am looking for is 5 minutes of your time to discuss ways in which I can help you (the benefits of your product) – All I am looking to do is run through this with you, if at the end of this call you’re not interested we can just part as freinds… how does that sound?”

This is the basic frame for any objection ‘ARQ’ – Acknowledge, Reinforce Benefits, Question.

It is not just useful for sales people. This particular strategy can be used for negotiations in almost any situation in life, you just need to be thinking about the ‘request for further information’. Also you need to be able to recognise a proper objection.

Iceberg Statement

What I mean is that you can have what is known as an ‘Iceberg Statement’ which may sound like an objection, but really it isn’t. An iceberg statement in everyday life is something like a friend in the office saying “I met a pair of Swedish twins at the nightclub last night”.

Your friend is not telling you that for your information, he is telling you that because he wants to tell you the whole story!

In a sales or negotiation position and example could be “I think your company is full of crooks and liers.” This is not an objection it is a statement and it is a statement that the prospect wants to follow up with the whole story.

What you need to do is breakdown the iceberg statement to a point where you uncover the real objection. Our prospect above may have ordered your company’s product and it didn’t turn up, or something happened to tick the guy off. This is a mega hot prospect because he has already bought once. By asking, genuinely, “Sir you seem very unimpressed with our company, how did that happen?” and listening to the guys story, you are getting further information which will enable you to solve the problem, create rapport and generate a loyal customer.

Some of the biggest sales I ever made were from disgruntled customers of the firm I was working with our competitors. Assuming you have got to the real objection, let’s break down the process a little.

Acknowledge

The acknowledgement needs to be appropriate and not uniformly used in all objections/negotiations. If someone said “I think you are lying to me” the response “I understand exactly what you are saying” may not be appropriate! You would be better to question this instead of acknowledging it.

A little tip on the acknowledgment; One of the ways I would handle objections would be to use what I call the “My Fault” handle. If you are into communication then you will realise that all communication is the responsibility of the communicator. In other words ‘if someone doesn’t get what you say – it’s your fault not theirs’.

The ‘my fault’ handle works like this. Let’s assume it was the “I think you are lying to me” – “Mr Prospect, please forgive me. Obviously I have said something that has caused you to believe that which means I haven’t done my job very well and for that I apologise, let me know why you think I have lied and I will clarify”

Something like this is more often than not truthful, you have said something that has been misinterpreted, and your honest answer is usually appreciated by the prospect.

Re-Inforce

The reinforcement needs to be relating to the benefits of your product but what it can do for the prospect. It is no use saying “I understand what you are saying, but our product is the best in the world” That is telling not selling. You have to reinforce the benefits using what the prospect will gain or miss out on. “I understand what you are saying, but I really believe that our product can help you save $XXX off your next energy bill and I am very keen for you to reap these benefits…..

Question

All sales ‘gurus’ will tell you to ask questions that are yes answers. They will say this is a psychological thing. Cobblers, conversations in real life do not go like that and your prospects will just think you are pressuring. The questions need to be genuine and my favourite ones are ones which call for more objections… sounds crazy but hear me out.

“I understand…. but I really believe that our product…. ‘is it the cost? Is it our company? Is now not the right time financially?

All of these questions would have sales gurus up in arms. That is because they are pressure salesmen not sales professionals. As a sales professional you want to know when to ask a closing question, when to ask for the order. Do this to soon and you have blown it.

Answering one objection rarely leads to an opportunity to close. I would want all the objections out before I asked the closing question.

I will carry on in other posts along this theme, but take a look at your objection handling. Do you see it as a request for further information or are you using ‘tricks’?

If you have any questions or would like some feedback on your individual business do get in touch through the comments or the Tweetboard app on the left.

Regards
David
@TheMarketMaker