“It costs too much.”
“I can get a better deal from the competition.”
“I’m not sure we need to buy this right now.”
Customer objections. Don’t you just love them?
Maybe not… but you should.
Sure, overcoming objections is a challenge, and sometimes it might appear that the customer is just being obtuse, or maybe just messing with you. However, very often, these objections and obstacles – as annoying and frustrating as they might seem to the salesperson – actually play a vital role in getting the deal done.
The Buyer Process
The truth is this: for the customer, this serpentine dance of obstacles and objections is actually a reasoning process they must go through to convince themselves of the value of the product and the fairness of the offer.
There is something about your offering that the customer finds interesting, or they wouldn’t be talking to you at all. The customer is attracted on some level, but making a purchase means taking a risk. The process of asking questions and raising objections is the customer’s way of gradually working themselves around to seeing the value of saying yes.
Keeping the Ball Rolling
The process is a bit like a game of tennis or kickball. Your job is simply to return whatever the customer serves up, keeping the ball in play until they are satisfied.
Despite their outward appearance, what obstacles and objections really represent are opportunities. They can give you great insight into what the customer is really concerned or worried about, what they value, and how you can to help them achieve their goals. Every objection gives you one more opportunity to point out a benefit or clear up a misunderstanding – and build value that will eventually result in a sale.
Just keep in mind that the customer is actually looking for a way to seal the deal. Don’t get discouraged when the customer raises yet another objection – if they weren’t interested, they wouldn’t be talking to you anymore. Those objections are actually keeping you in the game!
Keep these four points in mind as you field customer objections:
Don’t panic. Just because your customer is raising objections doesn’t mean you are about to lose the sale. It can actually mean they are teetering right on the edge of taking the leap.
Listen carefully. Make sure you understand exactly what the customer is asking and why. Don’t look at an objection as an opportunity to immediately jump back into selling. First, you must clearly understand what the customer needs.
Relax and remain confident and poised. The truth is, the customer is going to make his final decision based on intuition and emotion at least as much as logic. That means that how the customer feels about you personally is a factor! If you lay on pressure, start squirming, or get frustrated, you will only erode trust and push the customer away.
Provide clear, honest answers. It is not helpful to dance around the issues. The customer will discover eventually if you have misinformed or misled them. Remember, it’s possible to make a sale, but lose a customer – if they feel you can’t be trusted, they will never buy from you again. In the long run, that is not good for you or for your company’s bottom line.
If you are patient, helpful, cooperative and truthful with the customer as they argue with themselves, you will find that these obstacles and objections become the bridge you needed to close the deal all along.
Baker Communications offers leading-edge sales training solutions for sales makers and sales managers that will help you address the goals and achieve the outcomes addressed in this article. For more information about how your organization can achieve immediate and lasting behavior change that will uncover new opportunities, drive revenue, and boost your bottom line, click here.
