In sales, one of the first things you are taught is that objections are something you must deal with every day. It is important for salespeople to be buoyant in what can seem like a sea of negativity and rejection. Part of being buoyant is understanding how to deal with objections a prospect might bring up. Objections can be about absolutely anything. They could be about price, the company, service issues, competition, even about you as a salesperson. However counter intuitive it may seem, objections are a good thing. It means the prospect is listening to what you are saying. Objections are opportunities to dig deeper, to unpack what the underlying issues might be for your prospect.
Part of being buoyant is planning for common types of objections. For instance, in the common objection regarding the price of your product it is important to empathize with your prospect. A plan or method taught in sales training that could help in this case is called the “Counterbalance” or “Compensation” method. This method helps affirm the prospects objection to show empathy, while contrasting and highlighting the value of your product. This is done by admitting their objection is valid, and then countering it with specific features or benefits that outweigh their objection.
So for instance, in the case of price; your prospect says, “I just think this widget is too expensive for me, I can get along fine with the widget I have already even if its a little bit out-dated.” In the counterbalance method you can respond by saying, “So what I hear you saying is you have an issue with the price, is that correct? I completely understand your concern, and recognize our widget is a little more of an investment up front than your previous widget, however with these new added features, within 6 months our widget will pay for itself. Does that answer your concern with the price?”.
Using this method when appropriate can be highly effective and show your empathy and willingness to help your prospect. Obviously your statements need to be truthful and you need to be convinced your prospect actually will benefit from your product or service, but this method is a great tool to answer some of the most common types of objections you may face in your sales calls.
BoweryJE22
I love the fact that in your example, you clarified for and affirmed the client twice. You made sure you heard their concern correctly, as well as making sure you answered their concern correctly. This is also an important tactic, especially when dealing with something as sensitive as price.
I have never looked at objections in this way. This positive spin of seeing that the objection means someone is actually listening to what you are saying is really cool. If you look at it this way you can handle the rest of the conversation in a totally different way. You know you have their attention so you can make more in-depth statements that could supply real information for the customer to make an informed decision.
My dad always tells me that you will have many people that object to what you are selling and you just have to know how to handle it. Even if it results without a sale, it is still important to end a conversation with a customer well and politely.
Leaving a good taste in a potential customers mouth is huge. Possibly your business didn’t work with theirs but if you are respectful and nice they could potentially tell other businesses they work with to go to you for work.