by Don Sanders, 11/23/2004

The majority of people who fail to make it in the promotional products business do so because they don’t know how to handle objections. They lack the all-important skill of knowing how to effectively respond to negatives raised during sales presentations. Failure in overcoming objections costs valuable time and it causes some people so much frustration that they get out of sales all together.

What are Objections?

Objections are questions raised by prospects during presentations. Salespeople often perceive a simple question as an objection when they are unable to successfully communicate with their prospect. In order for you to consistently make sales, your goal should be to keep objections to a bare minimum, or to eliminate them completely!

Why Objections need to be handled!

Successful sales result when objections are answered quickly and in a confidant manner. If you are confronted by them, strive to create fast responses tailored to specific situations. The ability to think on one’s feet is key when it comes to developing quick appropriate answers that will cause buyers to move away from their concerns.

Do you often hear these comments from prospects?

1. Your price is too high.

2. I already buy from someone in your industry.

3. This purchase is not in our budget

4. Get back to me at a later date.

If you have sold successfully for any length of time, then you have learned how to respond in a professional way. If you are just getting started in a sales career, you need to limit negatives and turn them into positives.

False Objections!

Salespeople need to determine when objections are truly legitimate. In most instances, buyer concerns are real, but objections can be nothing more than stalling tactics used by indecisive people. An effective salesperson learns to tell the difference between the two. Since selling time is limited (there are only so many hours in a day), it is important that you waste as little time as possible on stalling tactics.

Here are some instances that could limit your ability to sell a prospect:

· The person you are calling has no authority.

· The contact is being polite and does not want to tell you “no.”

· You are being shopped for your ideas.

· You simply failed in the selling process.

The key to avoiding these situations is to do the proper job of qualifying your prospect, so that objections are held to a minimum. If you still fail to make a sale after careful preparation, you need to assess your own performance to determine if you could do anything to improve your presentation.

If you feel that you are facing an insurmountable number of objections, ask yourself the following questions:

1. Did I qualify the buyer?

2. Did I show the right products?

3. Did I act in a timely manner?

4. Did I get ahead of myself during the presentation?

5. Did I follow-up at the right time?

When objections are raised, mentally go through the selling steps to see if any were missed. That way you can develop appropriate responses to satisfy the needs of the prospect.

Keep them to a minimum!

The best way to limit objections is by posing the right questions. The majority of objections occur because the salesperson fails to find out what the buyer really wants. They spend too much time developing answers to questions that never should have come up in the first place.

Selling is very basic. Most people want to make it much more complicated than it needs to be. In order to make sure that you keep objections in check, and are able to easily find answers to the ones that do come up, always do the following things when talking to a prospect:

· Make sure the person you are seeing is the buyer.

· Find out when the customer needs the product.

· Determine what price the buyer is willing to pay.

· Show products from suppliers that you know can deliver.

· Ask permission to contact the buyer again.

· Always follow-up at the appropriate time.

Here’s how one distributor keeps objections to a minimum:

I almost failed in this industry because of my inability to ask the
right questions. When I started out, I thought that all I had to do was go through the motions of showing people different items. In a very short time, I discovered something very different.

It seemed that everywhere I went; someone asked me questions and it seemed that I never had the right answer. I became so frustrated that I started thinking I was not cut out for selling. I decided to change my
approach by asking more questions.

I started asking the same questions on every sales call. I made a point to find out the who, what, when, and where of every sale I attempted to make. Before I pulled anything out of my bag, I fired off as series of questions, regardless of the prospect.

As a result, I developed a series of answers that helped me stay on point. After making this change in my selling style, I was able to keep objections to a minimum and to prosper like never before. Next year, I will celebrate my tenth year in business.

Curiosity won’t kill you!

Cats may get in trouble for being too curious but successful salespeople are rewarded for their curiosity. Sales result when they find out what they need to know by covering their bases and asking all of the right questions. You, too, can enjoy a profitable career in sales when you satisfy your customer’s needs when you overcome objections. And everyone feels like a winner!