Sales Tip Of The Week - SalesTrainingCamp.com

In my early years of selling, whenever I got an objection, my heart would sink, my stomach would go into turmoil, and my mind would shift into overdrive trying to figure out how to deal with it.

All my early sales training and all the sales books I'd ever read made a big deal about having to deal with and overcome objections. It was as though every sale contained a mountain called Mount Objection that had to be scaled before sliding down the other side to a Close. It seemed that if you didn't get any objections, you weren't really making a sale; you were just having a conversation with the customer.

Even today, any sales training workshop worth its salt, including ours, spends time showing salespeople how to handle objections. Frankly, I feel the sales training community spends far too much time showing people techniques for handling objections. That's right, I said we spend too much time on this topic. Before you mentally tar and feather me, hear me out.

What is an Objection
How many real objections do you actually get? What exactly is an "objection"? Is it a roadblock to be overcome? Is it an obstacle to closing the sale? Is it a mountain to be climbed? Webster's dictionary defines "objection" as "an expression of opposition or disapproval."

If you disapprove of or oppose someone or the company he represents, are you going to do business with them? Hardly.

When the customer says your price is too high, or your delivery is too long, or the specifications don't meet his needs, or he's happy with his current supplier, does that mean he disapproves of or opposes you? Of course not.

So what you might consider to be objections aren't really objections at all, but are sales realities or simple expressions of concern on the part of the customer.

Of course the customer is concerned about the high price because he's not convinced of the value. Of course he's concerned about long delivery because that will cause him delays or problems. Of course he's concerned about the specifications because your solution isn't going to do the job. And of course he's happy with his current supplier. If he wasn't, he'd come looking for you instead of the other way around.

Are there any real "objections?" Probably. How about, "The last time I bought from you delivery was eight weeks late," or "Every time I try to get service, no one calls me back."

Biases and Roadblocks
You can also run into biases and uninformed customers who throw roadblocks in your way because they simply aren't going to buy from you no matter what. That's not a sale, that's a sales nightmare. Some people won't buy because you're a woman or not a woman, you're too young or too old, or for whatever reason they don't like you or your company. These aren't real objections. They're biases and you're dancing to someone else's tune, the title of which is "There's No Sale Today, Martha."

Avoid Objections
So what's the secret to handling objections? The secret is to manage the sales process so as to avoid them. That's it. Now, how exactly does one do this? Well, first of all, remember that people buy from people they know, people they like, and people they trust. So build rapport, be likeable and be trustworthy. Do what you say you'll do when you said you'd do it. Secondly, listen to your customer's concerns. Find out what's standing in the way of his buying from you. What is he unsure or uncomfortable about?

If you've spent the major part of the sales process asking questions, probing and qualifying the customer, you will probably have a good idea of what situations have to be solved or clarified before the customer will feel comfortable moving ahead.

Sometimes there's no simple solution to the customer's concerns. That's when the customer will hesitate to move forward. If you can't find a solution, maybe you can negotiate a resolution.

Perhaps a delayed delivery can be offset in some manner. Maybe no one's product will meet the customer's required specifications and your task is to help the customer accept your solution as the closest match he's likely to find.

Negotiate a Resolution
Whatever it is that's keeping the sales process from moving forward, it's your job to identify it and to address it in a professional, non-confrontational manner. You're not trying to overcome the objection; you're working with the customer to resolve the situation in a mutually beneficial manner.

When you do this in a spirit of friendly cooperation, you're partnering with the customer and coming across as a problem solver, not a peddler.

So, by treating what is often considered objections as simple requests for more information or clarification, you can reduce the stress of the situation and keep the sales process moving, hopefully to a successful conclusion.

Should sales trainers stop teaching objection-handling techniques? No, but they should put more emphasis on how to avoid customer concerns from coming up in the first place. They should help salespeople recognize the difference between a valid customer concern and an emotional bias. Salespeople need to improve their skills at uncovering the customer's concerns early in the sales process. They also need to know the difference between a put-off and the reality of human nature that causes a customer to say, "I want to think about it."

The final secret of handling objections is to listen. Most salespeople wouldn't listen at all if they didn't think it was their turn to talk next! You need to hone your skill at not just hearing what the customer is saying, but understanding what the customer is saying.

Once you understand what is standing in the way, you can work with the customer to pave the way to a smooth sale. The key to handling objections isn't confrontation; it's cooperation.

So the secret to handling objections is to cooperate your way to more sales.

About Brian Jeffrey
Brian Jeffrey is a sales trainer, sales management consultant, columnist, and author of numerous e-books as well as over 100 articles on sales and sales management. His company, Salesforce Assessments Ltd, helps sales managers avoid costly hiring mistakes by providing specialized sales assessments and other tools to better match the salesperson to the job. For more information visit www.SalesforceAssessments.com.

As sellers, we're continually told to sell value and to let our prospects know about all of our value-added services. After all, that's how we're going to win the sales. Right?

Not necessarily. Value is relative. It's in the eye of the beholder. So much depends on how the decision makers you're dealing with perceive "value." And even then, selling "value" may be totally ineffective - or not enough to make the difference.

Basically customers can be segmented into three different types based on their perceptions of value and what you can do to increase your sales effectiveness when working with them.

Commodity Buyers
These buyers know exactly what they want and how to use it. They don't need sellers to explain the details. Commodity buyers typically value:

We're all commodity buyers at times. When I order things like contact lenses and office supplies, I just want good pricing and fast service. As a seller, there's little you can do to create value or sell "value add." I really don't care. It's up to your company to make it cheaper, simpler to order, delivered to my door and with easy returns if I need to send it back.

Strategic Partner
These people are looking far beyond the scope of your products or services. They want a strategic partnership. They're looking at how to best leverage their organization's core competencies in combination with another company's core competencies. These buyers value:

Working with Strategic Partner buyers requires a major corporate commitment and is far beyond the scope of any one seller. If your company isn't capable or willing to do this, these buyers aren't interested in working with you.

By yourself, you can't create the value they need. But if your company chooses to do this, you and your firm will become absolutely invaluable.

"I Need to Make a Sound Decision" Buyer
These buyers are either spending a lot of money on a decision or they don't know everything there is to know about what they're buying. Typically their decision process is complex, involves multiple people and takes place over an extended period of time.

In fact, with these these buyers, the seller creates the value by what they personally bring to the relationship. These buyers value sellers who:

Becoming an Invaluable Resource
What makes a seller invaluable? The ability to contribute so much more with each and every customer interaction - so much so that they can't imagine doing business without you.

Let me give you an example. Say your company handles direct mailing programs, a fairly non-differentiated service offering.

Here are some ways that you, as the seller could become invaluable to your customers. You could:

If you keep thinking, you can come up with even more ways to become invaluable such as:

To become invaluable, you must bring more to the relationship than just your standard product or service. What you want to create is a situation where corporate decision makers can't live without your ideas, insights, and knowledge.

Becoming invaluable doesn't just "happen." You need to invest in yourself. Learn more about your customer's business. Figure out how to help them improve it. Be an idea generator. Become an expert in your field. It takes a real commitment on your part.

Only the best make that commitment. But it truly sets them apart from everyone else and literally makes them invaluable.

Jill Konrath, author of Selling to Big Companies, helps sellers crack into corporate accounts, shorten sales cycles and win big contracts. She is a frequent speaker at national sales meetings and association events.

For more article like this, visit http://www.SellingtoBigCompanies.com . Get a free Sales Call Planning Guide ($19.95 value) when you sign up for the Selling to Big Companies e-newsletter.

Many companies and their decision-makers require written proposals, and if you are like many sales people, you probably shudder at the thought of this request. However, writing a good proposal doesn't have to be painful providing you keep a few points in mind.

First, recognize that closing the sale in a business proposal is a process, not an event. It doesn't occur just because you have asked for a commitment or because you have presented all the features and benefits of your product or service. When a customer or prospects agrees to do business with you after reviewing your proposal, it means that you have addressed their key issues and demonstrated exactly how your solution will benefit their company. This requires a bit of strategic planning.

Unfortunately, too many sales people spend too much time talking about their company, product or service at the beginning of the proposal. The drawback with this approach is that decision-makers are extremely busy which means they don't want to waste their time reading something that has little or no relevance to their situation. Salespeople will argue that this information is critical and that they need to present it in order to show how their solution is appropriate to the customer's situation. While this is true, it is essential to direct your initial focus on the customer and demonstrate that you have a good understanding of your prospect's issues and concerns.

Great proposals often start with an executive summary which highlights the prospect's current situation or problem and how this issue is affecting the company. This means you need to ask your prospect key questions during your conversations. In the hundreds of sales training workshops I have conducted over the years, I have discovered that the vast majority of sales people fail to ask their prospects sufficient insightful, thought-provoking questions. As a result, they fail to understand the negative impact of a particular problem on the company's business. However, stating the impact of the problem in your proposal can reinforce to the decision-maker, the importance of implementing a solution.

Closing the sale in a proposal means positioning your solution and demonstrating exactly how your prospect will benefit by using your product or service. Far too many sales people forget this critical element. They discuss many of the features and benefits of their solution but they fail to outline the impact of their solution on the prospect's business. The challenge is that the majority of sales people do not discuss this with their prospect. Therefore, they cannot address it in their proposal.

Reduce the prospect's risk. Many people would rather tolerate working with a vendor who is not performing well rather than make a change because of their fear of the unknown or the pain that is often associated with making a significant change. I once retained the services of a particular individual even though I was not completely satisfied with his work simply because I dreaded the hassle of finding a new vendor. If this is a potential concern of your prospects, then offer some type of reassurance or guarantee to reduce or eliminate this fear.

Closing the sale in a proposal also requires some form of action or commitment. Ending your proposal with a feeble statement such as, "If you have any questions please let us know" is not effective. It is essential that you clearly outline the next step(s) you expect from your prospect along with a time frame.

Lastly, keep your proposal as brief as possible. Unless your solution is extremely complex, you need to keep it short, clear and concise because executives simply don't have time to read a fifty-page document. Besides, short proposals are usually much easier to read and understand. I recall the very first proposal I was required to present. Because I didn't know any better, I only included information that I felt was relevant to my prospect and was able to outline a thirty thousand dollar project in just three pages. After we reached an agreement I asked what influenced their decision and was told, "Your proposal was easy to understand."

The bottom line? If you have asked your prospect enough of the right questions and positioned your solution in a manner that demonstrates exactly how your solution is the best one for your prospect, and removed the risk, you increase your ability to close the sale.

Kelley Robertson, author of The Secrets of Power Selling helps sales professionals and businesses pinpoint what they need to do differently to improve their sales. Receive a FREE copy of "100 Ways to Increase Your Sales" by subscribing to his free newsletter available at www.kelleyrobertson.com. Kelley conducts workshops and speaks regularly at sales meetings and conferences. For information on his programs contact him at 905-633-7750 or Kelley@RobertsonTrainingGroup.com.

When you become successful the natural tendency is to embrace the things that got you there. This seemingly logical thinking can present several problems because while some aspects of what you did to get to where you are will help elevate you to where you want to go, there are other components may actually inhibit your climb to the next step. Here are a couple of examples that illustrate how past success can work against you:

It's become so common that I'm no longer surprised during my leadership seminars when I ask a group of highly paid professionals in leadership positions if they read leadership books and get blank stares in return. If I could read their minds I'd bet big money I'd hear conversations like this bouncing around in their brains: "I'm already a leader. Why would I need to read leadership books? Doesn't this guy know that we had a record year last year and that I made more money than I ever had before? Obviously, I know my stuff or I couldn't have achieved such a feat. Now, Golf Digest and Field & Stream ; that's more my style." Frankly, if ignorance were bliss these folks would be the happiest people on earth because they're too proud, foolish or clueless to understand that what got them "here" won't get them "there" and it's just a matter of time before they become irrelevant as leaders. I wouldn't allow someone with this attitude to play amateur hour with my business any more than I would employ a doctor, attorney or CPA who had stopped upgrading their own skills and had pledged allegiance to yesterday's methods.

This might be a good time to evaluate your leadership style and your dedication to further your leadership skills. Determine if you are relying too much on what got you "here," then pinpoint what you may need to change to get you "there."

About The Author:
Peak performance author, columnist, trainer, speaker and radio show host for sales, management and leadership, Dave Anderson walks the talk as a leader. He has led some of the most successful retail automotive dealership in the country—the most recent dealer group he led had over $300,000,000 in annual sales—and now gives 150 presentations, workshops and speeches annually on sales and leadership development around the globe.

Dave is author of over 50 training programs on sales, management and leadership including the books, Selling Above The Crowd: 365 Strategies For Sales Excellence and No Nonsense Leadership: Real World Strategies To Maximize Personal & Corporate Potential. Dave authors a monthly leadership column for Dealer magazine, publishes a monthly leadership newsletter and hosts the weekly radio talk show, Dave Anderson’s Learn To Lead Hour. His books, cassettes, videos, newsletter, column, web articles and live presentations pull no punches and provide real world strategies for peak performance in business and in life.

Dave is a member of the National Speaker's Association and is a featured speaker at conventions worldwide.

Dave is president of the Dave Anderson's Learn To Lead and LearnToLead.com, a cutting edge web site providing hundreds of free training resources to thousands of subscribers in over 30 countries.