Be advised that many questions from your customers are actually “objections” in disguise. So pay particular attention when questions are asked … then listen intently so you can truly understand exactly where your prospect is coming from.

This brings us to what we call—The Customer’s Final Objection
“The Customer’s Final Objection” is when you are at “the moment of truth”—specifically when you are asking your buyer for a commitment … whether that be “the sale” … or the “money.”

It’s important to note:
NEVER confuse “objections” with “excuses”—because you’ll end up by reacting to the prospect’s “excuses” … versus responding to their “objections.”

How do you recognize the difference?
You look for “core objections” …
however, “excuses” will sound something like this: “that sounds great, send me a proposal” or “send me something and I’ll run it by my team” … “we need to think about it.”

There’s really six core objections when you are asking for the sale. To understand them, you need to look at the “why” behind the “what.” Understand the psychology of the mind of your consumer. Here’s where the behavioral science of what my team at JC Marketing Communications does and how that factors in.

So why is the customer who you courted and built a relationship with giving you an excuse?
Think about “how are you as a consumer and analyze yourself?” How do you react when you’re being “sold.” It’s simple and it has to do with the three area’s of everyone’s brain.

One area of our brain is the “fight” or “flight” part! It’s the part where you reach a state of fear when making a decision. One expert refers to this portion of our psyche as the “reptilian” part of our brain.

Next … you can look to the second area—which is referred to as the “inner brain.” That’s the place where people go when they’re in love … or listening to a great song. That’s the “happy place” part of our brain.

Then there’s the third part called the “smart brain.” It’s where people go when they’re learning new concepts … or doing things like balancing a checkbook. In this case, it’s when we are learning the particulars of a product or service.

So when you are “selling” you must understand that a prospect cannot access all three areas of their brain simultaneously. We humans can’t access our “reptilian” part of our brain without first passing through our “happy place.” What does that mean for you when trying to close a sale?

The consumer could be scared or suspicious. Why you ask? We haven’t earned enough TRUST throughout the sales process … or maybe their embarrassed because they can’t completely afford your product or service … let alone understand what it is that your selling. They might not be a “real buyer.” I would even venture to say “they’re shopping you.” Sometimes the person you’re meeting with is NOT the decision maker, but have been playing like they are.

So if you get an objection, the worst thing you can do as a salesperson is challenge it. Many of us have made that fatal mistake. That response often comes off as an attack on your prospect—at least that’s how they will hear it. Often times that approach moves your prospect from an emotional state of fear … to even more fear—or a heightened ANGER state.

Your whole goal is to get to the “real objection.” Ask questions of your prospect to get to the actual reason.
Solution: Change your buyers emotional state before you change the terms of your deal. Some sales people hear the customers objection and automatically want to change the various items of the contract. i.e. payment terms, add more services for the same money … even drop the price. If you do that you will certainly lose credibility.

Find ways to move your potential customer to their “happy place.” Take the pressure off the customer by giving them relief. Put away your things like you are ready to leave. The very act of you looking like your “moving on” provides relief to your prospect. That puts the customer into their happy place & you should genuinely use this as an opportunity to begin building rapport again. Change the subject. Ask questions like “So, how long have you been with this company? What are your weekend plans? What do you like to do in your spare time?” Be creative and genuinely build honest rapport. Changing the subject gets your prospect out of the “fight” or “flight” mindset.

As you’re packing up to leave—you may also learn how much time the customer needs to make a decision by asking them point-blank. Try to even set a followup appointment. If it’s a week or two … then ask the question: “Let’s flash forward … can you foresee what concerns or questions you might have at that time?” I will say that almost 70% of the time the real reason will be revealed. You got to his/her answer because you changed your prospect’s emotional state, getting them to “think” again.

Next, isolate the objection.
Let’s say they tell you they’re going to talk to your competitor. Instead of defending your position, tell them that you “totally understand.” Chances are it’s a big decision so you can say: “that’s fair” … then immediately ask: “is there anything else that would prevent you from moving forward?” You will isolate their position. 9 times out of ten you will get the “ real objection.” Be on their side … your genuine respect will wind up positioning you as their ally.

Here are the six common or typical objections:

1) “I don’t know if we can use your product or service. We’re sort of interested, we’re doing research to see if it’s for us. It might be a luxury product versus a necessity … we’re not sure if we will use it to the full potential.”

2) “I just can’t make this make financial sense. I don’t see the value. I want to check out your competitor. I think I can get it cheaper—I want to check out other companies who do what you do. I think I can get it better somewhere else.”

3) “I don’t know if I trust you and your company.” This objection is precisely about your not establishing credibility and your failure to build rapport.

4) “Your product or service is just too complicated.” People simply don’t want to change. They’d rather make no decision … than make a decision. They’ll tell you what they have now is working fine. They basically don’t want to upset the apple cart. They’re happy to remain status quo.

5) “Timing. Real budgetary issues. Not in their budget this year. But we’re looking anyway.”

6) “They have to talk to a third party … I have to run this by my partner … a spouse … a board.” Or even personal politics … “I told my friend’s wife that I’d use her company for my next project.”

According to a published report on WNPR, the average attention span of an American at 8 seconds, we’ll need to get to the real objection quick or we’ll be strung along forever.

The longer you have to wait for the next appointment, the less likely you’ll get a sale. With a finite amount of mental space available to your needs, there’s too many things to divert a prospect’s attention from you. They might even buy something else that came up in the meantime. Perhaps a similar product that they think will do the job better, for less money—a solution to their “real” or perceived problem. Or heck, maybe an emergency came up that depletes their budget and they will never buy your product because they used up their money for something else.

Introduce what one expert calls an “infant negative.” This helps your prospect understand that YOU understand them.

Trust is a real issue today for just about everything. We’re suspicious more than ever. Most people think “the salesperson will tell me whatever I need to hear to get his/her the sale.”

So here’s an excellent thought. Don’t paint your product “all sunshine & roses.” Tell your prospect what your service or product won’t do. Pick something small that won’t kill the sale. Make sure it’s NOT something congruent with the “real objection.” Frame it in a way so your prospect can understand. Your customer will honestly believe what your product will do. This moves a prospect from “fear” to a thoughtful conversation. Then, you can get them to their “happy place.”

To summarize: CHANGE YOUR PROSPECT’S EMOTIONAL STATE BEFORE YOU CHANGE THE DEAL.

With regards to getting an excuse or objection from a prospect … here’s an exercise you can do right now. Write down all of the things you can say about your product or service that will get your prospect to their “happy place.” That is different from industry to industry so this requires some effort. Then develop your technique for each of the objections you expect to encounter.

REMEMBER:
Your customer doesn’t need to understand your product, they just need to know you understand them. After all, people don’t care what you know, until they know that you care.

We’re JC Marketing Communications—
wishing you a very blessed week!
860.621.8866