This blog will be a continuing series of short informational excerpts from my sales training arsenal designed to help you SELL MORE and have MORE HAPPY CLIENTS.
In my training classes and seminars I am often asked about how to handle the many client objections that come up in the sales process. The answer is very simple, ask questions, listen to the answers, and qualify upfront. The sales profession is not about making EVERYONE want to buy your product through some secret voodoo magic. It is about finding a fit between the right client and the right product quickly.
You will see the most experienced salespeople in any industry flow through sales almost seamlessly and most people new to the sales game often wonder, in amazement, about what secret mystical things that the veteran is saying to get all these people to buy his product.
I am going to share the HUGE MAGICAL SECRET of the TOP PRODUCING sales people.
Ready?
There is no magic and there is no secret J
Let's first talk about handling objections. Why is it that veteran sales people get far less objections than a rookie? One of the reasons is QUALIFYING their client. A veteran appreciates EVERY relationship they can nurture, but understands that not every person will be a good fit for their product or service. Qualifying falls under the 80/20 rule: Ask questions for 20% of the time and listen to your client answer for the other 80%. If you listen to your clients and potential buyers they WILL give you the information you need to close the sale or move on. In order to succeed at a career in sales, you MUST get good at qualifying and quickly determining if there is a fit for this person and your product or service.
Here are some examples of qualifying questions.
•· "How long have you been looking for a ________?"
•· "How has the search gone so far?. "
•· "What have you done up to this point to accomplish your goal? "
•· "What EXACTLY are you looking for? "
•· "Have you had any luck finding it? "
•· "Does _______have everything you are looking for? "
I think you get the point. Qualifying questions are those that find out quickly if the product/service you are selling and the potential buyer are a great fit. If they are not, you can part ways and let that person off the hook. How does this benefit you? By getting to the point quickly and parting ways, you take any UNECCESSARY pressure off of the potential buyer. More than likely they will appreciate that and send you referrals of those that might be qualified. Just because they liked the way you treated them. Getting to the point quickly with those that are qualified will allow you to focus your sales activities on them. After all they are the clients that are most interested and are a great fit for your product or service.
The next time we will talk about a sure fire process to overcome objections like a pro.
Happy selling and remember "Coffee is for Closers" (Glengarry, Glen Ross)
©Copyright 2008 Tom Elder, TomElder.com
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GOAL QUALIFYING 100% OF THE TIME ALL THE TIME OVER AND OVER DURING OUR TIME
REALTY QUALIFYING 60% OF TIME BEING DRIVEN CRAZY 40% OF THE TIME BY THOSE I DID NOT QUALIFY
You and me both, It is easier to teach sometimes than to practice :) Thanks for the comment and enjoy your Cinco De Mayo :) Make sure you qualify that beer first.
Getting qualified is very important, why waste your time and money on some unqualified peospect.
Great Post. What do you think about the sales advice of knowing your most common objections from buyers and having already prepared answers so that you can handle the objections very easily?
John Thomas - Certified Mortgage Planner
Bart,
You got it, Time is money and you wouldn't throw money down the tube, so why treat your time that way. Thanks for the comment.
John,
I think that as a professional, we should know our business. I am a big advocate of tracking objections and being prepared for them, but (and this is where I differ from a lot of coaches) I do not recommend having any anticipation of certain objections during a sales call.
I teach sales people that, prior to entering into a sales call, to let go of everything that they think a call should be.
Pre-conceived notions will only lead to self fulfilling prophecy. We often create objections that did not exist until we thought about them. The minute we think about something (positive or negative) our subcontious mind starts to make that a reality. If we think that there will be objections there definitely will be and WE created that not the client.
I would tell every sales person to enter into a sales call with a blank slate and ask the approprate questions to qualify someone and handle the objections as they arrise from your client. And remember that an objection is never as it appears on the surface, but that is another blog altogether
Thanks and have a great week.