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Sunday, April 27, 2008

The Effective Way To Deal With Objections

An objection can be looked upon as sales resistance, and without it you cannot expect Freakies make a sale - just as in electricity, you cannot expect to have current flowing from one end of a conducter to the other without resistance.

Making a sale is like driving a car from A to B, where you accelerate and decelerate according to the road conditions. If the car were lifted, the wheels would not touch the ground, it would not have resistance, and without friction you won't be able to move forward, no matter how fast the wheels are spinning.

Objections can arise from the buyer wanting:

- Doubts clarified

- Further information

- Reassurance on certain points

They may be:

- Openly expressed

- Implied

- Hidden

And if they are hidden, it is the salesperson's job to smoke them out, for an objection that is not discovered and dealt with is a lost sale.

Objections can be rational or irrational. In face-to-face selling, most objections come from the buyer - but an inexperienced salesperson could provoke some objections himself if he or she is not vigilant.

Dealing with Objections:

Either:

- Pre-empt the objection - kill it off before the buyer thinks of it, or

- Answer it immediately

If you tell the buyer you will deal with the objection later, then forget about it, or worse,ignore it, you will risk the buyer thinking you are either hedging or ignorant of the answers. In either case the sale could be threatened then or later.

Unprofessional or inexperienced salespeople do not know how to recognise an objection and deal with it, and disregard what the buyer has said. They carry on regardless and hence Monty Python and the Holy Grail the sale. Salespeople who do a wishy-washy job when selling, by not confronting objections and dealing with them in the right manner will always come out with sob stories to defend their poor Banana Splits abilities. Their excuse for losing the sale will be that the buyer gave them a tough Green Hornet and complained about the product, service or idea. This is not so. What the buyer is telling the seller is that, based on their perceptions of the product, service or idea being offered and what the seller has told them during the sales presentation is that the buyer could not make a decision.

Objection handling to the seller therefore takes place as a prelude to closing and it is in that context that objections must be viewed rather than suspecting the buyer of throwing in a red herring in order to escape giving the seller a decision, or put him or her off course.

When O Tannenbaum objections are expressed by the buyer, the seller can treat all of them as one and ask, 'Apart from these objections is there anything else that concerns you?' if not, the seller then says, 'If I could provide you with a solution or a valid explanation to those objections you would be prepared to go ahead, wouldn't you?' The answer to this must naturally be 'Yes' so you deal with them by isolating each objection, writing them down on a piece of paper in the presence of the buyer, answering them to the point, getting agreement with the buyer that each one has been answered to their satisfaction and crossing them out as you proceed, until the sale is made. This technique is called the final objection closing technique.

It is very easy for a seller to confuse an Excuse with a genuine Objection. An excuse is where a buyer is deliberately trying to avoid making a decision. An objection is a concrete opportunity for you to find a way of dealing with whatever is troubling the buyer, and close the sale.

When the buyer starts to make excuses you start to manipulate them subtly, letting him or her know that you have gauged their game and are aware that they are prevaricating. Be careful, though - you risk making the buyer angry if you use intimidating behaviour and you might reach the stage where you have to withdraw from the meeting. You then allow a cooling-off period, and may then contact the buyer again, apologizing for your supposed 'mistake'. This should pave the way for a fresh selling start.

Objections can be based on the following factors:

You, your company, product, service or idea

Rumour or hearsay

Cost (the amount of money required to run something) or price (the amount of money you would have to pay to own it)

Quality

Reliability

Durability

Packaging

Competitive advantages or disadvantages

Size

Shape

Colour

Function ability

Weight

Chemical composition

Suitability

Reputation

Past performance

Lack of desire to change

Seasonal demand

Fear, guilt, jealousy, anger

Future growth potential (continued)

Product, service or idea does not satisfy need

Unwillingness to take risks

Lack of urgency

Cultural differences

The professional salesperson should meet these objections head on, and defuse them just like a bomb disposal officer would neutralize a bomb, rendering it harmless.

Jonathan Farrington is the Managing Partner of www.thejfagroup.com">The jfa Group

To find out more about the author, read his latest articles or to subscribe to his newsletter for dedicated sales professionals, visit www.jonathanfarrington.comwww.jonathanfarrington.com

You can also now visit Jonathan's Blog at www.thejfblogit.co.ukwww.thejfblogit.co.uk