SLH SALES SYSTEM SALES TRAINING MORSEL #38

SOMETIMES WE CAN’T OVERCOME ‘EM

BUT WE CAN ALWAYS DEAL WITH ‘EM

DAVID RUBINSTEIN

EDITED BY

JIM OLSON

I hate it when Buyers object. Why can’t they just be reasonable and do what I want them to do? Lawyers should object, not our Buyers. It just makes sales so difficult.

In getting started, a couple of things need to be cleared up. It’s really not “overcoming objections” because sometimes we just can’t overcome the objection. Sometimes we can do it right and not get the results we want and other times we muck our way through it and still get the business.

So, where does that leave us? We have to deal with the objection.

To begin with, we have to recognize the objection as quickly as possible – Price, Past Performance, Present Vendor, Resistance to Change – Morsel #37. There are four (4) ways to react to – deal with – the objection. It doesn’t matter which you use first or last. Just know these methods are at our disposal.

Things to remember:

1. The Buyer is right.

2. We were the cause of it.

3. We don’t always have to overcome the objection to get the sale.

Here is the first (1^st) of four (4) ways to deal with objections.  Remember, none of these techniques resolve the problem. These help in understanding the situation and deciding what to do next.

IGNORE IT!

This is the simplest course of action. Imagine a Buyer going off because something was delivered late or the paperwork was wrong or for any legitimate reason at all. I am not minimizing a Buyer’s complaint. They could be absolutely right – we did screw it up. It’s just that we have the right to ignore it – at least temporarily.

When I worked for the Oakland A’s back in the 1980s we were absolutely mediocre. From 1982 through 1986, the club was sub-500. 1987 was a 81-81 Team. The real problem was that we just didn’t suck enough! If you lose for a long, long time, you become lovable – see the Chicago Cubs. If you’re amazingly bad, you’re the New York Mets. More A’s losses would have elicited sympathy for the Sales guy. But, no.

So, I learned to “ignore it.” I chose not be dragged into a discussion about how boring we were. I changed the subject. I talked about our fabulous promotions, the weather, anything else. I grew to love the off-season because we were “undefeated!” I talked about the new uniforms, the new players – anything but reality.

One of the benefits of the “Ignore” is that we “don’t go down the toilet bowl” as the Buyer continues to berate us, our  company, our family and friends. We are silently screaming “enough already!”

Of course, ignoring it solves nothing – yet. Stay tuned.

What do you think?

Good Selling!

BLOG – http://selllikehellsales.blogspot.com/

SLH Sales System “Morsels” are meant exclusively for non-commercial use by the recipient. No modifications of any kind may be made without the written permission of SLH Sales System. To be removed from distribution list, simply reply accordingly.

SLH SALES SYSTEM SALES TRAINING MORSEL #37

WHY THEY DON’T BUY

DAVID RUBINSTEIN

EDITED BY

JIM OLSON

Ask 10 Sellers to come up with the number of reasons for Buyers not buying and guess what you’ll get? More than half will say “about a million.” A couple will figure it’s a trick question and say “one.” One smart-aleck will say “73.” Nothing uniform, that’s for sure. And, without knowing ‘em, how can we be expected to deal with ‘em?

My Sales Training experience has shown that dealing with objections is more perplexing than almost any other challenge Sellers face. Furthermore, most Sellers try to deal with these objections by “telling” their way out of it. Which frequently leads to trying to “I believe” their way out. The result is neither  satisfying nor effective.

So, why don’t Buyers buy?

There are actually four (4) reasons that explain this. Each is generic in scope, applying to all industries and products. I believe this quartet covers more than 95% of the reality of not buying.

·        PRICE. And those things financial. It can be as simple as “your price is too high.” Or, “there’s no remaining budget for this buying cycle.” Or, “it won’t fit in the budget.”

·        PAST PERFORMANCE. Otherwise known as the “We screwed up” objection. This Buyer, or their company may have used us in the past and something happened – bad delivery, a breakdown, a bad experience with accounting – you name it – something happened. Amazingly, sometimes we suffer because that Buyer thought it was us and it really wasn’t. Or, they used a company like ours where their experience was bad and we suffer for it. It just ain’t fair!

·        PRESENT VENDOR. What we’re selling they’re getting from another vendor. They are either loyal to another brand or company – or to both.

·        RESISTANCE TO CHANGE. Sometimes folks just don’t want to change what they’re doing. People get “dug in” and won’t move regardless of the wisdom of moving – it’s easier to do nothing than something. This is also known as the “path of least resistance.” For example, my golf group never plays on Thursdays and I asked why. The answer is “because we never do.” Oh!

Take the simple route in Selling. Listen well to your Buyers. With the right questions, they’ll tell you which objections are in play. The next step is to be able to correctly deal with the situation.

In our next Morsel we’ll look at our options and the best techniques in dealing with objections.

How’s that sound?

Good Selling!

BLOG – http://selllikehellsales.blogspot.com/ 

SLH Sales System “Morsels” are meant exclusively for non-commercial use by the recipient. No modifications of any kind may be made without the written permission of SLH Sales System. To be removed from distribution list, simply reply accordingly.