I wanted to make love with my wife one night last week (especially because I've been very busy and have travelled a lot). But my plans were foiled when she told me she had a migraine. [She knows that the tried and true "headache" excuse doesn't work anymore, so in recent years she's elevated "headache" to "migraine"].
But I know she didn't have a migraine. No way. Her "objection" wasn't real. It was a faux objection.
The real reason my wife avoided my husbandly advances was because she wanted to watch a TV show.
[Great. Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe takes precedence over moi. While I'm thinking about getting "dirty" with my beautiful wife, my beautiful wife is thinking about Mike Rowe getting truly dirty as he plays the role of both a dung beetle researcher and a glass blower. That's just not the kind of role playing I had in mind. But I digress...]
It's not just wives that give objections; prospects do, too. So what do you do when you hear an objection from your customer?
The first and most important task is to determine how accurate and true the objection is. Is it a real objection? Or is it a false objection?
Salespeople hear objections every day. And every day, salespeople go after those objections not knowing if they're real or if they're a cover up, a false objection, a smoke screen, an excuse, an easy way out, a tall tale, a desire to exit the sales situation without having to make a decision, a temporary anxiety attack, or a manifestation of status quo paralysis.
Before we address the actual objection, we put our investigator's hats on and dig into the objection and ask some probing questions. Examples:
- - - - -
Objection: "I need to talk to my wife about it."
Investigative Question: "Being a married person myself, I can appreciate that. Let's set your wife aside for a moment. How do you feel about owning this [insert product or service here]."
- - - - -
Objection: "I can't afford this right now."
Investigative Question: "I agree, Bob, it's important that you only consider cars that you can afford. What was it about this [insert model of car] that made you want to test drive it today? [customer answers]. Is it more that you can't afford this car, or more that you don't want to spend this kind of money?" etc.
_ _ _ _ _
Objection: "I'm going to have to think about this. Buying a townhome is a big decision."
Investigative Question: "You know, you bring up an excellent point. Let's think about this together. Do you like the location of the home? What do you think about the fourth bedroom? (I know you only needed three bedrooms). What do you think about the layout of the rooms?, etc.
_ _ _ _ _
Faux objections throw salespeople off course. Before you address an objection (or as you address it), find out if the objection is real and true. Sometimes it is, and sometimes it isn't, but addressing a fake objection as if it's the real reason the prospect isn't moving ahead with the purchase is a serious sales strategy error.
By the way, Dirty Jobs is on TV again tonight. Argh.
If you like this post (or don't) please click on "comments" below and share your comment. Skip Anderson is the Founder and President of Selling to Consumers Sales Training. He works with companies and individuals who sell to consumers in B2C, retail, in-home selling, in the financial, real estate, and insurance markets, and other consumer-selling industries.
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