In a previous post, I explained the classic “artful dodge” method for answering objections. That always runs the risk of irritating the customers, so here’s a less dodgy approach. This one is particularly useful for vague objections like “I’d like to think it over.”
TECHNIQUE #2: CLARIFY AND LEVERAGE. When you hear a vague objection, delve into the customer’s thinking to discover the real objection (which will be more concrete), then come up with an appropriate response. For example:
Prospect: “I want to think it over.”
Sales pro: “That’s fine… You wouldn’t take the time to do that if you weren’t serious, right?”
Prospect: “I guess not.”
Sales pro: “Just to help me understand better, what is it you need to think about? Is the product quality?”
Prospect: “Not really.”
Sales Pro: “Is it the price?”
Prospect: “Yes.”
Sales Pro: “Whew! That’s a relief, because we’ve got terms that make this product very affordable.”
As a side benefit, this technique can surface those few objections that really are deal-killers, like “we just don’t have the money,” “we can’t get credit” and “we’re going out of business next Tuesday.” In that case, the sale is DOA anyway, so you can move on to the next prospect with the happy knowledge that you did your best but didn’t waste time on a sale that simply wasn’t going to happen.
This technique also works the wide variety of objections that present themselves in the “it’s too expensive” guise. In fact, the objection might be something quite temporary and workable, like “it’s not in this month’s budget.” But you can’t work the issues if you don’t know what they are. Here’s how to find out:
Prospect: “Your web hosting service is too expensive.”
Sales pro: “How much are you currently spending?”
Prospect: “We’ve been paying around $100 a month for our sites.”
Sales pro: “Are you looking take credit card orders online?”
Prospect: “Yes, we’re moving into that next quarter.”
Sales pro: “That requires high availability; we’ve got the best record in the industry.”
The above is based partly on experience and partly on some coaching I once got from Tom Hopkins. More to come, of course.
