By Greg Winteregg, CEO
In every industry there are the ‘standard objections’
You know them by heart and probably have your standard ‘come back’ lines ready to fire back at the prospect. BUT NOT SO FAST!
The error is assuming that the words that are coming out of their mouth represent a legitimate stop or barrier. When they say “I really need to check with my spouse.” Is that actually true? The truth is that you don’t know if it is or not until you do a little more investigating. We actually have no idea how this couple has decided to handle finances or make decisions. That’s a very personal thing and varies from couple to couple.
So, is it faulty or legitimate?
So the critical element, when handling any objection, is to determine if it is faulty or legitimate. Now, you might ask, “Why would anyone give me a faulty explanation when I’m trying to help them solve their problem?” Simple. It’s probably going to cost them money, or time, or they don’t make decisions that quickly, or an infinite number of other reasons to go slower and wait.
I’m sure you’ve had it happen before where a prospect is dripping in diamonds and says “I don’t have that kind of money.”
So when they say they need to talk with their spouse before deciding, we have to discover if that’s actually the case by asking a question or two.
At this moment you need to be careful
If you don’t ask the proper question you could come across as rude, aggressive or uncaring—and if you’ve read my other blogs you know that happens a majority of the time.
Rule #1: always be respectful and courteous. So how about them, “When you go home and tell (your spouse) that you want to spend $______ on ________ what do you predict they will say?”
We actually have no idea
Sometimes they’ll say that they have a family policy that dictates how they spend their money. Legitimate, completely fine and those are claims that you just have to roll with. Sometimes they will say that they aren’t sure if they can afford it because the other one handles the money. Legitimate. Maybe you can talk to the decision maker then.
However, they could say “They will ask me if I really want it?” So the original statement was FAULTY. Now you ask “Do you want it?” Then they’ll start asking you questions. “How long will this last?” “Is there a warranty?” “Do you have financing available?”
Here’s another one
“I really can’t afford it.” We aren’t sure if that is faulty or legitimate. Resist the temptation to start explaining that you have ‘interest-free financing’. The first thing you HAVE to do is establish if their objection is faulty or legitimate.
Try this: “If you really want it could you put it on a credit card?”. Don’t be surprised if they come back with “Well, I could but I wouldn’t buy something like this on credit.” So this makes the original objection FAULTY. They actually can afford it. I like to then ask “What’s really on your mind?” And then they often tell me the legitimate objection. Now we are making progress and if I can handle that we close it.
Closing points…
So the rule when handling any objection is to first use good questions to establish if it is faulty or legitimate. Then you don’t waste time and effort chasing your tail and getting nowhere.
Do an exercise where you write down the main objections you routinely run into. Then come up with a few polite questions to help you establish if the objection is faulty or legitimate. Practice what you come up with on a friend, co-worker or spouse to make sure you are comfortable with your questions and you start getting used to this new approach.
The hardest part will be breaking the old habitual responses from the past. Practice. Practice. Practice.
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