SalesMotivation.net

by Gunter Wessels and Sam O’Rear, The International Group, Inc.

I recently observed an interchange between a high value customer and a mid career salesperson. The rep was a “closer.” In our meeting the customer responded to the end of the presentation with, “We don’t have enough budget for that.” The sales rep replied, “What if we could make this fit in your budget?” To this the customer said, “Um, well, I don’t like the payment terms, either.”

The rep pressed on, “What if we changed the terms to meet your needs?” The customer shifted in his chair, glanced at the clock, and then grudgingly admitted, “I have to check with my boss.” The closer let out a soft sigh, “Great!”

We know that objections are a fact of sales life. We’ve all heard them. Just remember early in your career, when the sound of an objection leaping off the prospect’s lips was a loud and scary noise. Most of us, however, learned how to quickly “overcome” objections with an answer. Some of us may have even been caught interrupting a customer’s objection with the answer, as if we were a “quick-draw” artist. No sooner did the familiar question begin to poke its head out, and, BANG—smoking answer—stunned customer.

What an objection really is.

On a level, knowing the answer is good, because it allows us to vault over the objection like a hurdler, neatly clearing an obstacle to the sale. At least this is the theory of overcoming objections. The faster, more pithy and tight the response, the more rapidly we can move forward toward the close and collect our reward. In fact, you might have been trained or may have learned to look for objections as signs of progress.

We would like to acquaint you with a different viewpoint. We take issue with the view of objections as hurdles to dash over. We do this because we see objections differently and “overcoming them” as hazardous. As a sales task, overcoming objections needs to be reversed; we’d prefer that objections be dug into.

Objections in our view are unmet emotional needs. Rather than overcome them like a hurdler, we recommend addressing them, and meeting the need. But, this can only be done by digging-into and amplifying the objection; a process which can be scary.

Notice that digging into the objection should not include a concession, nor should we succumb to our instincts and offer a Band-Aid fix to the hurt it exposes. Instead, the hurt a customer voices has to be probed, examined, and amplified.

The reason objections are worth digging into is there may be, and in our experience most often are, many more reasons for the customer to buy wrapped around an unmet emotional need. That’s quite a difference to the result when the answer to the objection is overcome with a pricing concession. By digging into the objection, a great deal of value can be created for both parties.

In the next section we briefly sketch three strategies which might be useful in satisfying the emotional needs behind the objection and by doing so create more value for both you and your customer.

Three strategies to create value with objections.

A reality of professional selling is that customers buy people, not product. Therefore your credibility as a salesperson is critical in the trust-calculation made by your prospect. If they buy you, you can make binding recommendations. Here we propose three key strategies to achieve greater credibility when encountering objections, also known as un-met emotional needs:

1. Dig-in: Digging into an objection can improve the success of your deal for both you and your customer. Remember, we’re not advocating that you become stubborn or antagonistic; dig into the objection. A lot of times this is called probing, but when considering objections as unmet emotional needs, it is very important to examine the objection looking for the prospect’s own need. The response, “we’re not budgeted for that much,” when dug into shouldn’t increase your understanding of the budgeting process, but instead should highlight the prospect’s personal and emotional stake in the budget. Addressing these personal emotional needs is a key to building your credibility.

2. Wear-down: Another strategy involves wearing down resistance. This strategy is appropriate when your antenna tells you that the emotional need is to “get a discount.” This sort of emotional need is satisfied when the customers can point to a “deal” when defending the transaction to themselves or others. If your gut tells you digging in will just get more hammering on price, then a better option is to absorb the negativity. Let your prospect run the string out without interrupting him to overcome the objection. In fact, we would advocate engaging the prospect with amplification questions. Then, once he has used up some energy, ask more questions that probe and provoke other objections so you can get to price last. In our view, it is better that you get all the other objections out in front of you, than have them remain nipping at your heels. Once they are there, in plain view, you can deal with them and build value with them. Stop, ask, absorb, and provoke. The negative energy can improve your close rate. Furthermore, when a prospect is expressing negative emotions, you have the best opportunity to build your value proposition with strategy 1.

3. Re-frame: An alternative option involves doing some repositioning. With this strategy you reframe the discussion as one that is not aimed at getting a sale. Instead, you position a consultation process aimed at helping the customer make a good decision—for them. Keep in mind, that when attempting this strategy you must be genuine. Being genuine is critical! If you adopt a consultative approach, you don’t dare position only your own product/solution. You have to position your competitors’ offerings as well. Doing things this way makes you an industry advocate, i.e. an expert, with superior credibility in whatever you are promoting as a category. To be sure, compared to your customers you are most likely an expert, but sadly you’ve only been promoting one solution—yours. We would urge you to think differently, and sell solutions that fit the high value customer. If your sales career involves a constant fight over high value customers, you should become a high value aide to those customers. Such a high value sales rep sells high value customers every solution they buy, independent of which vendor it comes from. If you have the stomach to recommend a competitor’s solution, openly, honestly and correctly, you can become a high value consultant. You’ll earn more sales too.

Objections are going to happen. We have given you three strategies to create value from these objections and enhance your credibility in the sales process. Each strategy is designed to be most effective in particular situations, but overall we challenge you to adopt the third strategy—reframe. Contingent upon the type of sales task you are facing, reframing can create a great deal of long term success, especially in complex and difficult industries. As with any sales technique, it is up to you use it to create value for your customers, and company—in that order.

About The Authors:

SAM O’REAR, Senior Partner
Sam O’Rear has been an entrepreneur and career salesperson. As a sales rep, Sam worked with Siemens AG and then GE. From his first position at GE, starting as a field salesperson Sam was promoted all the way to general manager of a large business unit. He then left GE in 1990 to found TIGI, a multi-partner firm that delivers seminars, training, and coaching to sales teams resulting in unprecedented performance results.

GUNTER WESSELS, Partner
Gunter Wessels has a Ph.D. in Marketing with an emphasis on personal selling, and persuasion. He has consulted with numerous companies in the public and private sector, principally focused on the healthcare vertical market, but also including insurance and other industries. He has an extensive background in professional selling and was a consistent top performer in a number of large and small sales organizations.

Visit their website at: http://www.tigi.net for additional information.