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There's only one person who's qualified to handle a prospect's
stalls and objections, and it's not the sales person. It's the
prospect. If stalls and objections frequently come up in your
sales calls, it's a good idea to bring them up before the
prospect has the opportunity. If you bring them up first,
several good things happen:
It helps your credibility when the prospect sees that you're not
afraid to bring up stalls and objections, even before you're
asked. This promotes a feeling of trust.
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You remain in control, not the
prospect.
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You can save time and get down to
business faster, easier.
Here's how you could handle stalls
and objections up front:
"Art, sometimes when I talk with
people about what we do - and it may not be the case here -
sometimes they tell me one of the following: They see all
vendors as being the same; they hate the idea of going through
the process of whom to select to provide this product (or
service); they had a bad experience the last time they tried
someone new; or they're not sure which direction or application
will be best for them. Which of these, if any, Art, is a concern
to you?"
The idea is to take three or four of
the most common objections - those that you hear most often -
and phrase them in a multiple-choice question that prompts the
prospect to select one or more. This technique smokes out an
objection that might get in the way of your progress later in
the sales process.
When your prospect selects one of
the objections, you then reverse by saying: "Really? Why did
you pick that one?"
Probe a couple more times to find
out the real objection. Then, decide if the prospect's objection
will be a problem, or if you can handle it later in the sales
process.
Another variation of this reverse
becomes helpful when you hear the prospect raise an objection.
For example:
Prospect: "Well,
that's just too much money."
Salesperson: "People
generally say that for a number of reasons..." List multiple
reasons, then reverse by saying: "Which one of these, if any,
explains your comment?"
Keep yourself off the defensive.
Remain in control of the conversation and help your prospects
handle their stalls and objections themselves.
© Sandler Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.
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