“I’d fire him.”
Then you smile again and say, “That’s what we did—and here I am to provide you with the level of service you should expect from our company.”
But what if the last representative is now your manager, your boss, or is still with the company in some other capacity?
You smile and say, “… If you were the president of our company, and it came to your attention that one of your salespeople was terrible at follow-up even on very important business, but you also knew that this person had some great talents in areas where you badly needed help, how would you handle it?”
You’re practically spelling out the answer for him, aren’t you?
So he’s going to give you a response along these lines: “Well, if he really had talents I needed, I suppose I’d try to put those talents to work where we could keep an eye on him.”
Whatever your prospects say about the person in question, you reply, “That’s probably what we did.” Don’t get into a long explanation. Stop the discussion of the old disasters right there and go with your presentation about the new and exciting things your company now has to offer.
2. Change their base. Ask a question that highlights major benefits while it dwarfs minor objections.
Here’s an example from real estate sales: You’ve shown the entire home, and they like it. But as you’re walking with them down the hall after seeing the three bedrooms in the house, the husband suddenly starts fighting you.
“That last bedroom is too small,” he says.
As you feed it back, intensify it to see whether it’s more like a condition than an objection. “The third bedroom is too small? How did you plan to use it?”
“It would probably be the guest room. But it’s sure small.”
If the wife doesn’t jump in and overcome the objection for you, change his base. “Tell me, Mr. Bjornstad—and this is an important question, sir, because your answer can eliminate this house from consideration—what will you base your decision on, the warmth and livability of the entire home, or a few inches in the guest room?”
Of course, he’s going to pick the warmth and livability of the entire home. If he doesn’t, you’d better forget that house and find one they will own.
You’re with a prospect who is considering your medical insurance. She says, “Mr. Hopkins, one of my major concerns is that I’d really like to have the insurance company pay the doctor and hospital direct and save me all that hassle.”
Your company doesn’t handle things that way. So you ask in a cordial way, “Mrs. Wimmer, what will you base your decisions on—the method of payment or the quality of coverage for you and your family?”
She’ll say, “The quality of coverage.”
Then you eliminate the objection by saying, “Let’s discuss the quality of the coverage for your family first, shall we?”
3. Question down. People walk into your retail store and settle by one of your entertainment systems. When they ask questions, you give your demonstration and learn two things. They are Mr. and Mrs. Tellgren, and they want that system. You go through a few closes with no success, and then Mr. Tellgren says, “Thanks for your time. We’ll think about it and let you know.”
What does “I’ll let you know” really mean in cases like this?
It means, “Now that I’ve found what I want, I’m going to shop around and see if I can buy it any cheaper.”
Remember the rule. Always lead them toward answering their own objections.
“We’ll look around and get back to you.”
“Fine. That’s a wise decision. Mr. Tellgren, I’d like to ask you a couple of questions before you go. Were you impressed with the quality of the sound on this model?”
“Oh yes.”
“Is the cabinet the size you’re looking for?”
“Well, yeah, it’s about right.”
“And I think you mentioned that you wanted adequate controls, but not something too elaborate. Does that model fit your needs on this?”
I gently list all the things they were pleased with. As I do this, I work in—very briefly—all the positive things I can: “We service everything we sell, we have free delivery and installation, we offer liberal credit terms,” whatever. In a few cases, you’ll be able to close them by striking a responsive chord with some of the services that you can offer. If not, you’ll be able to get down to the final objection which, nine times out of ten, is money. When you get them to agree that the reason they won’t buy right now is money, you’ve isolated your challenge. The techniques for coping with this problem are given in chapter 4 of book 4, Your Sales Presentation and chapter 2 of book 5, 16 Power Closes.
3. Review their history. This technique is especially effective if your product or service is something that’s purchased on a regular basis by organizations. You might be selling industrial raw materials, processing services, supply items, generic merchandise. The buying of these products and services often becomes a matter of habit: It’s easier to keep on buying the same thing from the same source than it is to cope with change. Many suppliers don’t really keep on their toes with their established accounts. Usually they put more value on acquiring new accounts than on keeping old ones, even though the cost of acquiring new accounts almost always far exceeds the cost of keeping old ones. And of course, many successful suppliers become overly satisfied with their positions and get careless. When they stop bringing fresh ideas to their established accounts and stop keeping in close personal touch, a gap starts opening up between the best and what they’re giving. This means that the supplier isn’t helping the customer keep up with change anymore. The customer is falling behind and losing profits. The wider the gap grows, the more likely it becomes that someone in the competition will discover it, charge in through that gap, and capture the customer’s business.
If you have established accounts, keep in close personal touch with them, make sure you keep them posted on all new developments in your industry, and stay alert to their best interests. If you’re on the prowl to take over some of the competition’s accounts, here’s an effective way to continue when you hit their resistance to change.
You’re selling service, FM radio advertising spots to be exact. Your station is K-WHEE. Red Eye Soap, a major radio advertiser in your market, plays all its spots on K-TOO, a competing station. You’re going for the business in a meeting with Jane Mota, Red Eye’s advertising manager. (With many products and services, you’d have to ask what they’re using now. In this case, you know because you listen to the competitive stations to see who’s advertising on them.)
“Are you satisfied with K-TOO, Mrs. Mota?”
“Oh yes. They do a wonderful job for us.”
She wants to discourage you so you’ll be easier to get rid of.
But you have a plan and press on.
“How long have you been using K-TOO?”
“About three years.”
“And before K-TOO, did your firm do any radio advertising?”
“Red Eye started on K-ONE in the late 1990s, I understand.”
“May I ask how long you’ve been Red Eye’s advertising manager, Mrs. Mota?”
“I’ve been here five years.”
“Then I’d probably be safe in thinking that you had a great deal to do with the switch from K-ONE to K-TOO.”
“Yes, you would.”
“And