Ever feel like you are jumping through one sales objection hurdle after another? For example…
“So why are you so much more expensive than…” or,
“Well, the last guy only charged me…” or,
“So why can’t you clean all the carpets in my house for $99.00 like…!“, etc! GRRRRR! So let’s work on your negative attitude toward objections in general!
Sales Training 101 tells you to welcome and yes, even embrace any objection! WHY? Because any objection is just a “buying signal” from your prospect! After all, if they had ZERO interest in your services your prospective client would just blow you off and/or hang up the phone!
So how can you “cuddle up” to a difficult, almost hostile prospective client? Respond to their objection with ‘Verbal Judo’! (VJ) All martial arts use the principle of leveraging your opponent’s onrushing force against them! So use VJ on your prospect when you “sympathize and find common ground”! Say what, Steve?
Your objecting client expects you to “stand your ground” by defending (or worse, justifying!) your position. Instead, you will verbally “flip them” when your first two VJ words to any objection are…
“I understand…” For example:
Let’s assume your residential customer says, “You are a LOT more expensive than other companies!” Let’s compare the traditional, defensive reply versus Steve’s “VJ Reply”!
Defensive reply: “But you don’t understand. I have a lot of expenses and unlike my low-life competition we hire legal workers and pay our Workers Comp and guarantee our work and…” What does your prospective client hear? “Blah, blah, blah” whining! Seriously!
VJ Reply: “I understand. Just like me you probably want the most bang for your buck! So let’s see where we can get creative here…” And you now morph yourself into a consultant to change the job specs while also cutting your prices! And your objecting prospect is left flat on their back and gasping for air!
Commercial HINT: The Verbal Judo of “I understand” works even better on commercial accounts. For example, your new account says, “I’m sorry. But we don’t give our keys out to anyone.” So you fight back with your …
VJ Reply: “I understand how you feel! But have you considered…?”
Restoration HINT: When introducing yourself to a traumatized insured with a devastated home never say, “I understand how you feel…”! Because you don’t and your insured will (very forcefully!) let you know this! (Don’t ask me how I learned this one!)
Please share HOW you deal with adversarial, hostile prospects and their in-your-face objections in our SFS ‘Growing your Business’ Facebook Group!
Steve