Handling ‘christmas’ objections from your customers
It always makes me laugh as we head towards the “festive” season how sales professionals fall for the “call me back in the new year” objection from potential customers
You normally start getting this objection mid November onwards but it seems as though people have tried using it earlier this year and of course when you call them back in the new year its just another smoke screen they “still” have to run it past there partner or something along those lines or even worse you just cant get hold of them at all.
So why do they do it?
Look, sure there could be a genuine reason why your customer can’t commit until January – perhaps there partner IS away whom needs to be involved, perhaps there is no budget until next year, perhaps even that the person is so focused on finishing existing projects they just can’t even think about another one,
But in the majority of cases the decision makers use ‘Christmas’ objections as a convenient way of getting sales professionals and business owners to ‘go away’ and the reason they keep using them is because they work! Far to many sales professionals and business owners ‘fall’ for these objections, take the decision makers word for it – only to be surprised come January when they cant get hold of that person or get another objection delaying there commitment.
Our challenge as sales professionals is – unless you learn to do something about these ‘Christmas’ objections your going to suffer the same problem year after year after year!
Here are some things to think about
Be Prepared
Late October you need to start getting prepared, why not consider how you’re going to deal with some of these objections, you know pretty much what there going to be so practice your responses, most people fail even this simplest of task
This means working out your objection handles then practice them with a colleague or even in the next sales meeting, the better you prepare yourself for these objections, the better you you’ll deal with them
Access what they are really trying to tell you
Often when someone gives you an objection like “call me back in the new year” that phrase might have a totally different meaning than the one you’ve accepted at face value
Lets think about this a bit more – say some people actually use that phrase when what they really mean is ‘go away’ or perhaps ‘I haven’t got time to think about this project at the moment’ you only have to talk to a few professional buyers to realize that’s the case.
You make this distinction by the more ‘new business’ your telephone call or appointment is the less rapport you will have with them – therefore the likeliness of them ignoring you during this busy period is much higher, if your with a customer you have developed a good relationship with its more likely that they are telling the truth.
Hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
Sell the benefits over the features DUH!
It’s the biggest “noob” mistake I have come across with sales professionals. They sell the cool features of the particular product over the benefits; this is a mistake, WHY?
Because nobody who bought a wood saw wanted a wood saw,
THEY WANTED WOOD CUT!
It’s the basics to selling – selling solutions to problems, easing your customer’s pain, providing a scratch to an itch and focusing how your product or service can help OTHER people.
The key is to think about the solutions and benefits your product provides and make sure they are prominent in every sales pitch you make. If you are a physical trainer you sell big muscles and improved fitness. If you are an events manager you sell good times and unique once in a lifetime experience. If your sell sports cars you sell luxury, envy and power.
There is something really powerful about matching the actual needs and desires of a customer to the offer you are trying to make – basically if you want to boost your conversion rate or monthly budget then you have sell the benefits.
Here is an example of selling a custom built website:
Features:
- State of the art service
- 99.9% uptime
- 24/7 support
- Custom design & layout
- Content management system
Now if I were selling the benefits of these features I might go something like this:
- You know how your computer is already out of date? Ours aren't.
- You don't have to worry about your website being down and losing sales. We monitor it around the clock for you.
- Have a question at 2:00 AM? Its okay, we're up late to help.
- If your services stand out from the crowd, so should your website.
- Now you don't have to write a single line of HTML to maintain your own website...unless you want to, that is.
Benefit selling is an art, it takes a conscious effort to go from a mindset that is focused on the features you are trying to offer to a customer, to a mindset that is focused on how he or she could perceive those features as actual benefits.
Benefit selling is essentially the art of good listening. A good speaker is not always talking about himself, but asking questions and tapping into the interests of his partner in conversation
So next time your with a customer try to incorporate this into your sales pitch, ill guarantee you’ll be impressed with the results and your customers will respect you for it.
Words Sales Professionals Should Avoid
Here's just a quick one, Whilst speaking to a client recently i realized that there where a few common words that when speaking to customers can produce negative attitudes, here is just a quick list of some words you can use instead of the other very common sales terms
Instead of Contract use Agreement or Paperwork
Instead of Cost or Price use Total Amount or Investment
Instead of Buy use Own
Instead of Sell use Help them acquire
Instead of Commission use Fee for service
Instead of Sign use Okay, Endorse, Approve or Authorize
Instead of Worthless use Less Value
Instead of Let me tell you use Based on my experience
Instead of Fix use Fine Tune
Instead of I think use I’m a firm believer in
Instead of I’m Sorry use I apologies
Building relationships with your customers
All effective ‘selling’ begins by developing a strong, credible and genuine relationship with your clients. People will always buy more or come 
back for more from those they like, trust and feel they can respect.
How do we earn respect?
Through effort, our effort will determine how much we are respected by our clients, This can be broken down into a simple rule 60, 30, 10.
60% Effort – Greeting and understanding
Part of the initial greeting and understanding process is the 1st step in your 60, 30, 10 rule, this covers your personal preparation, opening lines, appearance, body language, the probing questions, observations, and listening to the clients specific needs
30% Effort – Explaining and Suggesting
By now you understand EXACTLY what your client requires of you and have formed a reasonable relationship, this is where you now need to turn there requirements or there “pain” into a solution by explaining how your product can help them or even suggesting different products at this stage you should also demonstrate absolute honesty, attention to detail, go over features and benefits, add-on sales, personal recommendations, additional services and try to exceed there expectations
10% Effort – Thanking
Ok now you have understood there requirements, explained and suggested solutions and have a built up a descent relationship with your client, YOU CAN NOW CLOSE THE SALE… this step still requires effort, make sure you have re-affirmed the sale and gone over the contract or quote (what ever it may be)
BUT the best thing about forming a relationship with your customer is that it opens up the possibility to ASK FOR THE SALE without appearing rude or forward
These relationships are developed through three basic human qualities
- Respect for the individual
- A genuine interest in them and there needs
- A genuine desire to add value – TO MAKE THE DIFFERENCE
Last Words of Wisdom
Become more involved with your clients, commit to putting these qualities into place and the sale will almost take care of itself, it will be the by product of a strong connection made at the front end of the sale.
Turn your shortcomings into advantages without faking it
Small businesses will always have shortcomings compared to the big boys, four people can’t run a round the clock customer service calls centre 
and software/webpage’s may have fewer features and more bugs than the competition.
Your customers know this!
But you don’t need to hide these shortcomings; you need to morph them into advantages over the bigger competitors.
Here are some examples:
Problem: you’re a one man retail sales company, what happens if you’re not available? A big company has more people for those situations
Advantage: With my company, you always get me; at a big company you get whoever’s sitting around doing nothing, and the “expert” people are always busy, if you wanted someone with my knowledge at a big company you would pay double (overheads) and still wouldn’t get my undivided attention.
Problem: You're just a small company. How do I know you're going to be here in 12 months?
Advantage: How do you know big companies will be supporting their products in 12 months? Big companies are cutting products all the time. They have to, if the product line isn't profitable. With us, all we do is work on this product. It's our life. Every waking hour is spent improving it and making you happy. Which of these strategies sounds more likely to survive?
The trick in nearly all cases is two-fold.
1. Dispel the notion that the bigger companies don’t have similar problems
2. Trump up the advantages you have because you’re a small business
Sometimes you can’t win with #1. For example if they have 24/7 sales consultancy while you have 8/5, you’re not going to win on those hours alone. But for every disadvantage there’s an equal advantage; in this case you would point out that talking to the company’s CEO on Monday is far more valuable than getting canned responses from “level-1 sales plebs” on Sunday.
#2 is easy, just embrace what you have rather than try to compete with the big boys on there own turf. A small business will always have advantages over bigger companies — passion, responsiveness, expertise, transparency, inclusiveness, and personality.
One final word of wisdom for your reading delights BE HONEST in our explanations if you don’t have a 24/7 sales line, your 8/5 should be the bees knees, its not a case of fake it until you make it because after a few interactions weather by phone or email the customer will eventually realize your not as big as you say
Handling objections from your customers
The key to nailing those sales is to find the REAL REASON they are hesitating to sign on the doted line. Nearly all objections are just smoke 
screens to avoid a commitment. Our job is to see through the smoke screen, identify the real issues, and find meaningful solutions – if we really want there business!
You have to remember objections do not mean you have failed, or that the customer does not want to commit to buying from you. At worst they indicate a lack of interest in you or lack of desire for your product. This is a sign that you may have lost them so to speak, and need to win there trust or interest again by asking more feedback questions and revisiting there requirements. Unfortunately the reality is that despite your best efforts following all the right rules, some customers will just blatantly object or hesitate in someway and try to delay there purchase decision.
The true sales professional will ‘earn the right’ to handle the objection, without appearing pushy or arrogant by really listening to their concerns and stopping to take time to ACKNOWLEDGE them with sincerity, This process demonstrates your empathy and allows you to cross from the objection to your potential solution
Having acknowledged the customers objections / hesitations, its your job now to find the real reason they are hesitating, This is basically clarifying the objection and is a polite way of carefully digging deeper into the real reasons for their delay in committing to the sale. Because this can be an awkward time for the customer or even yourself – you should always begin with something like: "Do you mind if I ask" I might then continue to say something like: Is there anything specifically your not sure about
Remember it’s not the customers barriers that create low sales – it’s our inability to deal with those barriers – identify the real reason, solve it with real solutions – CLOSE DEAL!
Having clarified what the real barrier is to making a commitment – you either solve it and close the sale – or don’t solve it and don’t close the sale. The choice is really up to you
Unfortunately I can’t help you with solutions, this is the hardest part of handling customer objections, finding meaningful solutions! As long as you have worked hard at thinking on your feet you should be able to present a real solution if not chances are you will not be able to close the sale – it’s just the law of cause and effect!
Great sales professionals are born. right?
WRONG! In my experience. Sales are a process. Just like bookkeeping or accounting is a process. If you don’t follow the process, you will ultimately fail. You may be the smartest, friendliest and most energetic person in the universe – but if you don’t correctly implement the “learned” skills you will fail… its that simple
The key to becoming a great sales professional is belief. You must have a belief in the products and/or services you sell and the ability to confidently portray your “personal” beliefs in the product and/or service. That will determine your overall ability to succeed
But what about the skills that comes with a person’s individual personality?
In my opinion saying salespeople are born is like saying Alex Rodriguez is a born Hall of Famer. I agree that “yes” in order to progress one must have certain natural skills such as listening, empathy and passion. but let’s be real, no one is born with any of these skills either, it takes a lifetime to develop and hone in on those skills, knowing the appropriate times to use them and when not to use them are all something that can be taught and gathered over time. Saying salespeople are born in my eyes is an excuse! An excuse to say “I don’t have to work on my sales techniques and personality because I am a born natural” and people like this will fail, because they lack the follow-up effectiveness and the ability to learn…
There’s a fine line between confidence and cockyness. Sure be confident. I promotes this above all else, but be aware that all great… no… BRILLIANT! salespeople are constantly learning and developing there skills.
In short a salesman is not born but made through hard work, guidance, willing to learn and above all other a belief in there products and a passion for what they do.