 |
|
 |
 |
|
^ click above ^ |
Transforming
Objections Into Selling Points
 By
Charlie Cook
You've been working with a prospect, moving closer and closer
to a sale. Just before you clinch the deal, they decide to go
with a competitor's product or service. They may say that your
firm is too small, or you charge too much or they decided to
work with a friend in the business after all, or all of the
above. How do you keep this from happening again?
Catherine called from real estate agency in town with a similar
problem. Her firm regularly competes against national real estate
chains and one of the most common objections prospects give
is that Catherine's company is too small. Given that the average
sale price of a home is $1 million in town, with some properties
selling for over $10 million, losing a listing hurts. |
Its
natural to want to avoid potential objections and hope a prospect
never brings them to light. You hope you can make the sale without
your prospect ever balking because your firm is small, expensive,
located in an unusual place, or whatever.
Many small businesses are, well, small. You may need to charge
substantial fees to make a good living from your work and most
people have a friend of a friend in the business. Unfortunately
no matter how much you try to avoid them many prospects will
bring up objections and you can lose their business. How can
you overcome these common objections?
Use prospects' objections to your advantage and transform them
into selling points. In the sales process, prospects always
have concerns. If you don't discuss them or figuratively leave
them under the table they will come back to haunt you later.
To move beyond prospects' objections, acknowledge them. Identify
their concerns and put them on the table for discussion to resolve
them. Here's how:
Over the years that you've been in business, you've heard all
of the common objections prospects raise. Take out a piece of
paper and fold it in half. In the left column, list all the
reasons prospects give for not working with your firm leaving
a couple of lines between each reason. Across from each objection,
in the right column, jot down reasons each objection is actually
a plus for your clients.
When you meet with a prospect, use your list to bring up potential
hurdles yourself and address them up front. For example, Catherine's
real estate firm is small compared to the national chain firms
in town. Catherine might say to a prospect, "You know we are
a small firm with ten employees. Let me tell you about all the
resources we have to help you sell your home. In addition to
providing you with the same resources you'd find at a larger
firm we provide more attention to detail, more local knowledge,
etc."
| Website
Ranking Manager With an extensive set of built in
web reporting tools this is the clear choice for anyone
engaged in a web promotion campaign. >>Free
Trial |
Then Catherine can go on to explain how her firm sells a higher
dollar volume of homes per employee than the national firms.
She could also talk about her highly motivated brokers who earn
higher commissions in large part because they aren't part of
a national chain. She could mention the $100 million in homes
sold last year. After explaining the many advantages of working
with her unique firm Catherine could ask her prospect, "Are
you interested in having a small firm of highly motivated experts
help you sell your home?"
With your experience in the business you know the most common
objections prospects raise but what about others you haven't
considered. How can you keep these from getting in the way?
To make sure you've covered all of a prospect's concerns, ask
them. Jot down a question or two to use to uncover any hidden
or lingering concerns they have. Address them and move on. After
they've explained their concern, restate it clearly to make
sure you have it right and then counter it. For example if they
are hung up on price, explain the value and benefits of your
services and expertise.
Don't know why prospects aren't using your services? You gave
it your best shot, but they still selected another firm. Its
time to do a post-mortem and find out what went wrong. Call
up that lost prospect and ask them why they picked another service
provider. Write these reasons down and tack them above your
desk. The next time you meet with a new prospect, bring them
up.
Early on in the sales process, bring up possible objections
and get prospects talking about their concerns. When these are
on the table you can address each one and show how each is an
advantage. When you put prospects' objections on the table and
transform them into selling points, you'll see your sales and
your business soar.
- 2004 © In Mind Communications, LLC. All rights reserved. |
| From
the Forum: |
| AdWords
keyword optimization |
| Currently I have 4
ads with about 63 keywords each. Most are duplicates
using brackets [], the single word itself, and then
in quotes "" as well. Is this a good way to go about
it so that the ad can get pulled no matter how they
enter that certain keyword? ...
|
 |
| Charlie Cook, is Chief Executive of Ideas
and Inspiration at In Mind Communications in Old Greenwich,
CT and can be contacted via http://www.charliecook.net,
or by calling 203-637-1118. To get the F*ree Marketing Guide
and the 'More Business' newsletter, full of practical marketing
tips go to http://www.charliecook.net |
|
|
