A reader with the handle “Susiepoobie” recently questioned my use of Tom Hopkins‘ answers in my post “Your Best Response to Three Common Objections.“ She also provided some alternative responses that she felt would work better than Tom’s.
Since Tom Hopkins is pretty much the dean of American sales trainers, I was intrigued. I have my own views on the relative merits of the different approaches, but I’m curious what you guys think. Here’s the body of Susiepoobie’s comment, followed by the three objections, Tom’ response, and her responses with her explanation of the reasoning behind it. Susiepoobies inputs are in italics.
I’ve added a poll at the end for you to register your opinion. In the post “Three Common Sales Objections Revisited“, I give my own commentary on this issue, but feel free to comment here.
I think your answers to these objections are not only glib but trite and ineffective. I would be turned off if a sales person gave me these type of responses. A salesperson’s response to any objection should be informative and should engage the customer while demonstrating a sincere interest in addressing his/her need, in order to give the client a reason to continue discourse with you; much less a reason to buy from you… [alternative responses] …Mr. James, if you’re going to give advice, give us some worthwhile red meat to work with. Don’t waste time with trite ineffective filler.
- Objection: “I can get it cheaper elsewhere.”
- Tom Hopkins’s Response: “In today’s world we can almost always get something cheaper. I’ve found that when smart people invest their money they look for three things: the finest quality, the best service and lowest price. However, I’ve also noticed that no company can consistently offer all three-the finest quality and the best service at the lowest price. Which two of the three are most important to you in the long term?”
- Suziepoohbie’s Response: “I’m sure you probably can. For example, (XYZ competitor) sells this product for $_. However, they do not offer the lifetime guarantee that we give absolutely free. In the long run you save by buying our Product… Wouldn’t you agree that this would better serve you needs?”
- Suziepoohbie’s Explanation: …or something like that. Build value into the purchase. If the customer does not appreciate the value, any price is too high. Oftentimes price is not the real objection, you just haven’t sold him yet.
- Objection: “I have a friend in the business”
- Tom Hopkins’s Response: “There’s an old saying - I don’t know how true it is - that sometimes friendship and business don’t mix. If you bought from a friend you might not say anything if you weren’t happy with the purchase, but with me you can just get on my case until you get what you want.”
- Suziepoobie’s Response: “Oh, that’s great. Who does he/she work for? Has he/she quoted you a price? What benefits do they offer in your package?” etc.
- Suziepoohbie’s Explanation: You would need to ask probing questions to verify if this relationship has benefited the client regarding this purchase. If not, qualify the client, do a needs assessment and proceed to the close.
- Objection: “I did business with your company in the past and they were unprofessional.”
- Tom Hopkins’s Response: “I can really appreciate that. I really hate it when that kind of thing happens to me. You know, though, suppose the shoe were on the other foot and it was your company that had acted unprofessionally. You’d probably fire the person responsible. That’s probably what we had to do, and now it’s my job to make certain that you’re treated right.”
- Suziepoobie’s Response: “I’m so sorry to hear that you had an unpleasant experience with us. Can you tell me about it? When did this take place? etc.”
- Suziepoohbie’s Explanation: Calmly and empathetically probe, probe, probe. I’ve done this in the past with an irate client and come to find out our company was partially at fault and so was the client’s. It was only after calmly walking the client through the situation that he came to recognize that there was a misunderstanding on his part as well. I was able to assuage his ill feelings and retrieve the account. He became one of my best clients. Any discussion with the client of your company firing a previous employee is in very bad taste and totally unnecessary; especially when you don’t know the details. For all you know, the problem could be the client’s fault entirely and if so, you may well look forward to having the same problem with the client again. Address the problem, dismantle it, neutralize it and move on.
And here’s the poll:
[Poll=32]
