Do Business Well

Often, we hear a negative response and assume that it is an objection, especially when it concerns price. In many cases, the prospect has simply raised an issue that needs to be explored. Price concerns often mask other issues.

What happened? Perhaps you walked into the store having decided that you wouldn’t spend more than, say, $750. Sometimes we give the store attendant a particular price range, and he or she points us toward a particular model. Then we find ourselves bombarded with reasons that model is perfect for us. Suddenly we’re turned off.

Haven’t there been other times, though, when the salesperson shared asked a couple of key questions, shared a couple of relevant stories, and emphasized a couple of key benefits … and you decided to buy even though the figure was higher than you had hoped for?

The truth of the matter is that an intelligent salesperson who asks the right questions and doesn’t overreact to initial resistance can change your “I’m only spending $750″ mindset into a “$950 actually seems like a pretty good price” mindset in a matter of minutes. Haven’t you ever had an experience like that before? I know I have.

To turn initial resistance into a positive response, you’ll need to follow these steps:

• IDENTIFY/ISOLATE the issues. How is this particular issue affecting this particular prospect, right now? Get the specifics. What’s behind the person’s response?
• VALIDATE the issue. Find out what its real-world dimensions are. Talk things through frankly with your prospect. (For instance: “You know what? This is the point in the conversation where this issue comes up a lot.”)
• RESOLVE the issue. If you stop and think about it, you’ll realize you really do tend to face the same half-dozen or so challenges over and over again. Choose the six most relevant success stories and share them. Use all the resources of your organization to develop a creative solution.

Just out of curiosity … what makes you think that’s the right figure/date/deal?

Or . . .

What makes you say that?

Or . . .

What were you expecting?

Remember, as sales reps, we often overreact when we hear an initial “objection.” What we should be doing is giving the other person the chance to identify the problem (if there is one) and help us get to the bottom of it . . . before we commit to solving it. For example, if the prospect says, “The pricing isn’t what I expected,” don’t just say, “Stop! Let me tell you why this is a great price!” or “I can ONLY cut it by 50 percent!”

(By the way, I’ve heard both of these “turnarounds” offered by seemingly rational salespeople when they heard about a tenth of a second’s worth of price resistance from a prospect.)

It might make more sense to explore the issue further by asking, “What were you expecting?” Your prospect might respond by saying, “Well, so-and-so told me he paid X” By the same token, the prospect might say, “Well, I really didn’t have any expectation, because I’ve never worked with a company like yours before.”

These are two totally different frames of reference! STEP BACK and ask more clarifying questions. Find out what’s really going on.

Can I tell you how we handled this issue when I worked with Company X?

A classic get-back-on-track question. Use it!

The prospect says, “It’s just too expensive.”

Instead of offering to discount, you say, “What makes you think it’s too expensive?”

The prospect says, “I have only X dollars in the budget for this—I can’t touch another penny until next quarter.”

You say, “Can I tell you how we handled this issue when I worked with XYZ bank? They agreed to pay Xupfront, and we billed them 120 days later for the balance. It was no problem.”

If the solution makes sense to the other person—you’re in business. If there’s another problem, keep cool, try to find out what it is, and offer another relevant success story.

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