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ARE
OBJECTIONS ALL THAT BAD?
by
Bill Brooks
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Lots of salespeople
tend to see prospects' objections in a purely negative light. When these salespeople
hear objections, they simply see them as obstacles in the way of their finalizing
a sale. However, there are several more positive ways in which you and other salespeople
can view objections.
A good place to begin examining the positive aspects of prospect objections is to
see these objections as challenges. Let me ask you a simple question. Would you like
to have a sales job where you would never have to face an objection or a difficult
question? Any salesperson who would actually enjoy a position without any difficult
questions should perhaps go to the ballpark and sell hot dogs and peanuts! There,
fans wave you down and say "Please give me a hot dog!"The point of this
line of reasoning is that without the challenging aspects of selling, you would simply
be a person with a relatively unchallenging job, and sales is certainly not that!
In terms of personal satisfaction, the number of objections you meet on a daily basis
in your particular marketplace tends to indicate the amount of money and prestige
that is assigned to your particular position. In general, people are rewarded for
the amount of difficulty that goes with what they do. Going back to the ball park
example, common knowledge tells us that those who sell hot dogs and peanuts at baseball
games definitely do not generate as much income as those who encounter objections
regularly in their sales positions. Where would you prefer being on the financial
ladder? Would you rather be on top, facing numerous objections throughout your sales
day, or on the bottom, facing no objections or adversity but making no money?
You should actually sometimes be optimistic when you are faced with an objection
or tough question. You should see this objection simply as an indicator that you
are moving either in the direction of successfully completing the sale or in the
direction of failing to make the sale. In either case you know where you are and
what you need to do in order to move ahead, course correct or break off the relationship.
You see, when a prospect voices his or her concern over a certain aspect of your
product or service, a chance has arisen for you to redirect your sales presentation.
You now have the chance to move away from things that the prospect sees as undesirable
in favor of moving towards those things that the prospect wants from you, your organization,
or your product or service. Unless the prospect's objections completely blow away
your product's benefits, you still have the opportunity to save the sale.
Objections also give you the opportunity to hone your sales skills. The more objections
that you face and successfully conquer the better salesperson you become. As you
begin to notice patterns in the ways prospects present their objections as well as
the consistent themes in these objections, you will begin to be able to almost predict
what kinds of objections your prospects will present. You will learn how to ask questions
that help you flush them out or even eliminate them. Knowledge leads to improvement,
so knowledge involving the ways you deal with prospects' objections can only lead
to improvement in your sales record, and, in turn, improvement in your income.
While objections obviously present salespeople with barriers to actually finalizing
transactions, viewing these objections and tough questions in a positive light can
only help you make more sales. Objections can be seen as challenging aspects of your
sales job and mastering objections can lead to an improvement in your sales performance
as well as your income. Objections may also be seen as "road maps"that
point you in the right direction toward the successful completion of the sale. Finally,
these questions and objections help the salesperson to become more skilled in dealing
with objections. Remember, "practice does make perfect," and the case of
conquering objections is no different.
Bill
Brooks is CEO of The Brooks Group, an international sales training and business
growth firm based in Greensboro NC. For more information visit www.thebrooksgroup.com.
If you would like to receive The Brooks Group's free e-mail monthly sales or sales
management newsletter e-mail:
Barbara@thebrooksgroup.com or call The Brooks
Group at 800-633-7762.
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