As I sat down to write a few articles, my phone rang. I got up to answer the phone  to be greeted with:

“Hi, this is British Telecom” …. Which was then followed by a pitch about extending our BT contract. As soon as the person had finished I said:

“I’m fine thanks”

The response that came back  from the other person was :

“Ok, thanks.”

And then they hung up.

Wow.

Tips in Objection Handling

That persons  sales figures must be terrible. This is a classic case of an employee just going through the motions in their role. I can’t even call them a salesperson because no attempt was even made to continue the conversation with me, ask me questions or to just find out why I said that – to make an attempt in objection handling.

This person probably thinks sales is awful and sets themselves up every day to fail. They might be saying to themselves “No one is going to want to speak to me on a Sunday” or something similar.

What to do achieve an effective Objection Handling

Now before I share a few things they could have done, let me just nail my flag to the mast. I think calling people at home is pre-historic and should have died out long ago. The only possible exceptions are from someone you have an existing relationship with such as your bank, credit card company and phone provider.

If they cared a bit more about the outcomes they needed  they could have said:

“I’m sure you have a good reason for saying that. Do you mind me asking what that is?” or

“Sorry. I couldn’t have done a very good job at explain how much this will benefit you – can I have 5 seconds to see if I could explain again?”

It doesn’t necessarily matter what you say, as long as you say something. If you are going to give up as easily as that then realistically what was the point in calling.

If you are going to make a telesales call then make sure you have prepared the strong reasons for your call, your fantastic answers to most common sales objections that you get and that you get into a positive state of mind and expect a positive outcome – proper objection handling.

If you want to know more about how you can do this then make sure you sign up for our free sales newsletter above where we regularly cover modern day objection handling strategies and sales training.

Very often when making cold (or warm) calls, the other person will say one of the best sales objections in the world:

“No I’m not interested!”

This usually comes just after you have made your introduction. There are a couple of ways you can deal with this effectively and we will look at these in a minute after we look at what not to do:

Sales Objections Don’ts:

• Never argue back or try to be clever. Saying something like “How do you know your not interested, you don’t know what I’m selling” will end up getting a  response similar to “You are right and I never will – so pi** off!”
• Never just carry on the pitch as if you haven’t heard them. This will wind them up and close any potentail doors you ever had.

Sales Objections Do’s:

• Develop a better opening statement and Value staement that will significantly decrease resistance and the number of times you hear this. I covered this in a previous sales blog article – telesales opening lines

• Try understanding their position and keeping the conversation going “I’m sure you have a very good reason for saying that. Do you mind me asking what that is?” This is a tried and tested way of dealing with Im not interested and seeks to understand the real reason why they are not interested. They might be in a rush to get to a meeting, they might have an existing supplier, they might not be the right person or they might just be rude. If you don’t ask you will never know, will never continue the sales dialogue and could close that door for ever.

• If you are feeling confident and secure in yourself, why not diffusing the situation with the confident delivery of something like “Well, that was blunt. Where do we go from here?

Give these two a try next time you are faced with sales objections specifically “I’m not interested”. If you don’t like these, that’s OK. Just make sure you have a few that work because there is one thing for certain – you will hear sales objections especially that phrase!

My folks were down this weekend and they are always great for inspiration for a few blog posts. One that stood out for me was my mum telling me about her dissatisfaction with Sky (digital tv provider in the UK).

My mum rang to cancel her Sky subscription, partly  because it was not getting used, and partly because it then seemed rather expensive for what was being consumed. She had to run the gauntlet of questions for a few minutes to avoid the special deals only available to her if she continued to be a subscriber to get to a point where the contract was going to be terminated.

The You Are Too Expensive conversation

The young guy (YG) on the other end of the phone asked:

“I have to put down a reason for you canceling. What shall I put?”

Mum – “It’s too expensive”

(YG) “OK – I will put down that you can’t afford it”

Mum – “No, I can afford it, it’s just I don’t want to pay for it because in my view it’s too expensive”

(YG) – “OK i will put down you can’t afford it”

This went on for some time untill my mum agreed in exasperation and vowed never to go back!

The point is that you too may be using subtle word changes to change the meanings of your communications. And these might have a powerful impact, both positively or negatively on the way you are communicating to your intended clients.

As a start why not look at your sales process and see how that  might be read, understood, misunderstood and interpreted by your prospective clients and customers.

In that way, we might get to avoid the You Are Too Expensive conversation.

Objection handling must be up there with closing as the two most debated parts of  sales training. Much has been written telling you what you should do, what lines to use and how to deliver them.

This article is refreshingly different because it tells you what not to do. There are a few key things that you should never do when faced with a sales  objection. They are:

Objection Handling “The Wrongs”

• Don’t pounce: an instant response, sometimes even before the prospect has finished speaking, creates an emotional barrier because it suggests you have not considered what has been said. It also indicates a ‘canned’ answer that you give to every one. People like to be heard and made to feel special and this does not help you do that!

• Don’t be glib: too quick an answer to your customers’ objection will seem unconvincing, because it suggests you have heard it all before and are just repeating a page in your sales manual.

• Don’t argue: never say, “…I don’t agree with you…” “…that’s not really true is it…?” “…no that’s not right and here’s why…” or anything similar; don’t even suggest that you disagree. One of the recent apprentice programs was a fantastic example of how not to do it. The female team arrived at a luxury ‘stretch’ limo hire business to pitch for the valeting  business. One of them (can’t remember the name) starts of at around £80 per vehicle to be told the current supplier does it for around £20 (going on a dodgy memory here!). The apprentice – or apprentee? – looked incredulous and insisted “You are wrong. That simply can’t be right.” She had been in the business a whole 2 hours by that time.  She was lucky the T.V. cameras were there as the business owner looked liked he was about to show her the door with the point of his expensive designer shoes. I have searched youtube and can’t find that clip. If you ever find it then let me know, please.

• Don’t point score: proving that they do not understand or have made a mistake will simply make them feel foolish or angry.

Would you like to know the 3 most successful objection handling techniques you can ever use?

Ok!  They are:

• Demonstrate so much value in your discussions and proposals that choosing you  is a ‘no brainer’. Develop a record of all provable business value you have created for clients and apply that knowledge and those facts into proving potential Return On Investment for your new clients.

• Deal with objections before they ever come up. This is the objection handling technique of  the ‘superstars’. If you are the most expensive on the marketplace and you know it, and you know they know it, then don’t leave it unsaid. Clearly demonstrate in your proposal and discussion,  why i.e.  “John, on first glance it might seem we are the most expensive provider in the marketplace per case of product. When you take into account your average order values, and order schedule,  and the fact that we don’t charge a premium for next day international shipping, we are actually one of the most cost effective. I have drawn up a total pricing plan for your planned purchases next year which shoes this.  Are you OK with that?”

• Brainstorm professional, credible answers to all of your common objections with every member of your sales team, your customer service team, your management team and draw up value proving answers. This one strategy alone could double your sales success in a 6 month period.

If you get into the habit of killing off the ‘wrongs’ and using the 3 best objection handling techniques in your business, your sales will take a huge surge.

Use these effective objection handling tips – let me know how it goes. If you want to make sure you get rid of sales objections in your sales once and for all then you really need to get your instant access to the most comprehensive, sales objections Manual available anywhere. You can access it here: Sales Objections Course

Get Instant Access to The Most Advanced Sales Objections Resource here (click the image):

This will solve your objection handling challenges once and for all!

1. The fact that I received it means that Virgin Wine are head and shoulders over the 3 or 4 competitors I also checked out a few months ago.
2. It is clear they have systemised sales process that tracks every prospective customer and that they regularly have ‘touch points’ to re-activate me as a customer.
3. The tone of the email is superb. It is written in a friendly, one-to-one manner that speaks directly to me.
4. I was made an offer that I could not get on their web site – it is an incentive to take action.
5. As a human being I naturally have questions and objections floating around my head as I am reading the email. The writer of the email (because I don’t actually think Rowan would be emailing me) understands buyer psychology superbly and has answered many of the common sales objections upfront. With extremely persuasive points too.
6. Just to cap it off there is a full money back guarantee — a no quibbles refund. How could I lose?

I would say that it is an absolute certainty that I will buy from them again. Maybe not today but sometime soon. It is almost a shame to do so as I will no longer receive their follow up offers and emails. I would bet they have a few years worth already planned into their system. This is not the best customer reactivation letter I have been on the receiving end of. About 22 Years ago I was in one of those book clubs that Rowan mentioned in his email. I did buy a few books every year and was in the main happy with them as a company. Along came the internet and everything changed. When Amazon became my favorite shop I no longer needed the book club. Did they give up on me? No!! A few times a year, I still get mailings from them offering me ‘spectacular’, ‘limited time offers’ for books and DVD’s. That’s persistence considering I haven’t bought from them in 20 years. What can you learn from this if you want to sell your way out of a recession?

1. Begin sending out customer activation letters and emails to everyone who has enquired within the last year and has not bought.
2. Make them an offer they just cannot refuse.
3. Answer any niggling doubts they might still have before they become major obstacles.
4. If you are in a business where it is viable make sure you include cost/profit justification of your services.
5. Plan for the future and begin to make this a routine part of your sales system so that you never lose contact with your prospective customers.

Oh and something slightly off topic — Invest in sales and sales management training. There is no better time to invest in training than when the economy is in a downturn. A small investment in sales training will ensure you stand head and shoulders above your competition.