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Isolating Objections

Guest articles > Isolating Objections

by: Mark Anthony, President of Training For Success

Very often when a customer objects, whatever he or she says is actually a white lie. The key to a successful sales call is for the representative to realize when this is the case and to overcome that white lie. It is completely necessary to be handling the real objection so it is possible to move ahead toward making the sale.

When making a sales call, one of the most basic obstacles that a representative must overcome in order to be successful is figuring out the customer’s real reason for objecting. Ideally, if this is done throughout the call, the representative will be offering solutions to many of the possible objections as he or she speaks, but very often the customer may say “okay, I understand,” yet still not have accepted the solution. Although this may be the case, the customer may not explain this to the representative since the issue has already been discussed.

Assuming that the building of the sales presentation’s foundation has gone well for the representative, he or she must figure out what needs to be asked in order to find out the real objection so it can be addressed. The process of doing this is called isolating the objection.

In a recent training program at Ambassador Home Improvement, Mark Anthony shared the following steps to outline an effective method that representatives can use in order to deduce the customer’s real objection, making it possible to move toward closing the sale:

1. Buff the objection: appreciate the way that the customer sees the issue. Use phrases such as “I understand,” “I know how you feel,” or “a lot of our customers initially thought...”
    
2. Ask why or what: “why is it that...?” “compared to what?” An average sales representative answers questions, and will never excel in sales. An excellent representative asks questions and finds out what the customer is thinking.
   NOTE: Average reps get the answers to these questions and then respond. Above average reps move to step three before addressing the prospect’s answer.
    
3. Anything else?: ask the customer “in addition to (objection), is there anything else?” Most customers will say no.
   NOTE: The star reps still don’t bite on addressing the objection. Instead, they move to step four. Realize our star performer has not addressed the customer’s “possible white lie.” They are probing to make sure the objection presented is the real issue.

Mark Anthony President of Training For Success, Inc. in New York City specializes in sales, customer service, and team building workshops for both inbound and outbound telemarketing programs. For more information and subscriptions: Call 212-683-1834 or contact us via email at trainingforsuccess@yahoo.com.

Contributor: Mark Anthony

Published here on: 06-Dec-09

Classification: Sales