One of the biggest terrors of salespeople around the world is that all Clients have objections, which have to be answered before the deal is closed.
Many people find it harmful that Clients object. It is not.
As the old saying goes:
“That’s just sour grapes!”
When Clients begin to object, it is usually a sign of interest.
It does not always mean that the sale is going down the drain.
Often objections represent the Client’s need for more information to make their decision. For this reason, they should be treated as requests for information.
But now let’s look at what you should do when addressing objections.
If you think of examples around you, how is an objection usually answered?
Client: “You know, I think your service is costly when compared to your competitors.”
It is common for a Client to say, but let’s look at how salespeople usually respond. Salesperson: “No, Mr. Client! Our service even has an excellent price/quality ratio.”
Now, let’s see why this is psychologically wrong in sales.
When you say “No, Mr. Client …” you are going against their words and this will produce an inverse response from their side.
Probably they will mention an even greater objection after that.
If you want a joke about this, I’d say that the salesperson will most likely be thinking:
“Of course not, you’re silly, the quality of our service is great.”
The problem is that the Client also thinks this way:
“Will you listen to this guy? First, he tells me I’m wrong, and now he still has the nerve to tell me that the product has a good price/quality ratio.”
What do you think the Client will do next?
Of course, they will make an even greater objection.
And what will the salesperson do?
Guess what, there comes another “No, Mr. Client…”.
And this is where we enter a vicious circle and sales often do not take place.
So how should you deal with the objections of your Clients?
One of the ways we talk about in our Intensive Sales Workshops is the three-step model.
It is a simple model, but extremely useful from the psychological point of view.
Let’s see how it works.
1. Agree with the Client.
“What? Agree with the Client?” is what you are probably thinking at this point.
Of course, the first thing to do is to go along with the Client instead of going against them, which will bring no result.
So when the Client tells you:
“You know, I think your service is costly when compared to your competitors.”
What you must do is merely agree:
“You’re right, Mr. Client!”
What is going to happen in this situation?
Firstly, the Client is waiting for you to oppose their words. So when they see that you agree with them, they will be caught unaware. In psychological terms, this causes a brain lock and causes the Client to stop with their current line of reasoning.
2. Reinforce the Agreement
“What? But wasn’t agreeing with them enough?”
Of course not, to reinforce the psychological effect you must reinforce that you agree so that there is no doubt in the mind of the Client. For example:
“And I will say more, Mr. Client, when I show this service, all my Clients think the same!”
It has two advantages:
On the one hand, it takes the Client even further away from their current thinking.
On the other hand, you get the guarantee that they will be focused entirely on the explanation that you give to them right after that.
3. Answer in the words of a third party
“But do you know what our Clients find out when we show them that our service includes the X, Y or Z option? That our price is one of the most competitive in the market!”
What’s the catch here?
It’s just that it is not “you” the one answering your Client, but rather your Clients that you include in the story. Psychologically this takes your Client to a dead end.
Of all the methods we have studied, this is one of the most effective ways to respond to objections.
Please leave your opinion about the article theme...