*E - explicit language is used in this podcast.
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Scott: Good morning, Jon.
Jon: Scott, good morning. How are you?
Scott: Doing well. How you doing today?
Jon: Doing great. Doing great.
Scott: All right, good. What are we talking about today?
Jon: Today we’re going to talk about overcoming objections, and really figuring out how to give our listeners some tools, tips, and techniques on how to overcome them, how to isolate them, and how to make money from doing the two things that we previously just said.
Scott: Right. Like we’ve talked about before, an objection is just a buying sign in disguise.
Jon: Right.
Scott: Finding a way to bring those out and overcome them is huge.
Jon: The key is, I think what you just said, is bringing them out. For starters, having no fear of asking good questions, which is what we’re going to talk about today as we go over role play scenarios of not being scared to ask continual questions to bring them out. The more you bring them out, the higher probability you have to close the sale.
Scott: Right. I agree. Let’s talk about a few common objections. I want to talk about one that I think is completely universal in sales. It’s, “Your cost/your rate/your fee is too high.”
Jon: Absolutely.
Scott: One of the ways that I would overcome this objection is by actually bringing it out up front. So, “What’s the reason we’re not moving forward today? What concerns do you have?” Then reducing it to the ridiculous. Just showing them, “You’re buying this big screen TV that you’re probably going to have for the next 5 to 8 years, depending on technology and your family. We’re talking about anywhere from 60 to 96 months, and you’re going to hem and haw over $100? When you think about that, that hundred dollars … number 1, is it breaks down to about a dollar something every single month, but also if you go to another store, you’re in my store right now. If you’re going to drive 10 minutes down the road, what’s your time worth, number 1, what’s your gas worth, and what’s the guarantee that they’re actually going to have that in stock or for that $100 less?
Jon: Right.
Scott: You might as well take advantage of it now. That dollar a month is nothing.
Jon: It’s nothing. Right. I agree with everything that you just said, especially the fact that people don’t understand or take time to understand what their time is worth. What is the value of their hour? If they view their time at $100 an hour, $500 an hour, $200 an hour it doesn’t matter. And, they spend their time doing remedial tasks that are $2 an hour things to save 50 cents, it doesn’t make sense.
Scott: Right.
Jon: I think, a thing I like to say to clients, and I think it works, is moving the thought that the fee is not an expense. It’s an investment.
Scott: Right. I love that.
Jon: Which goes back to what you were just saying: invest in yourself, spend a couple extra dollars and get on with your day and do something else. And, work with an expert that can advise you. It’s an investment.
Scott: Right. “There’s a reason I’m licensed to do my job and you’re not, sir.”
Jon: Right.
Scott: Makes sense.
Jon: I got a fortune cookie a long time ago that the fortune was, “Cheap things are of no value, and valuable things are not cheap.” Sometimes you just got to spend the extra dollars and stop trying to save the pennies.
Scott: Exactly. I have a drawer full of free swag that I’ve gotten: t-shirts, pens, all that stuff. None of it ever gets used. I actually pull a t-shirt out every once in a while when I need to dry my car. That’s what you get for free.
Jon: Right.
Scott: One other thing I like to do up front to isolate objections, as far as reducing things to the ridiculous in very much the same manner, is showing people, as far as, let’s just use mortgages as an example, how much an 8th of a percent really matters. It really doesn’t when you look at it. It’s a couple of dollars a month when you think about it. A lot of folks, they think that it’s this big, huge number that’s going to move the needles, when really that variable barely changes the equation at all. Showing them that up front, before they’re objecting to the rate, showing them how, “Rate really doesn’t matter, let’s look at the difference. What matters the most is the overall picture and what you’re getting.” Then, once they do object later, say, “Remember, we talked a half hour ago? The rate really doesn’t matter.”
Jon: Right.
Scott: I think that’s a huge one.
Jon: Coming and talking to the client, and understanding what they want to accomplish in the process of whatever they want to accomplish, and then selling yourself as the person and/or the platform that can get them there the fastest, that’s worth something.
Scott: Right.
Jon: That’s an investment in their time, and in themselves. Being able to do something for them that they can’t do for themselves.
Scott: Right.
Jon: Right.
Scott: Jon, what’s another common objection that you’ve heard quite a bit?
Jon: You know, a common one that I always hear, and people tell me is, “I’m not sure I’m going to move forward with you and/or your company yet.” They just put everything on hold. They just don’t … They’re non-committal. They’ve given buying signs, but then they just take it to a screeching halt.
Scott: Right.
Jon: Yeah.
Scott: The “I’m still shopping” type of guy.
Jon: Right. Those are frustrating, because a lot of times you’re spending time up front with those people – that you’re getting buying signs – and then they just shut you down.
Scott: Right.
Jon: To me, a good couple questions to talk to those people about are, “What needs to happen? What two things need to happen?” Isolate a number. “What two things need to happen in the next 20, 30 days that will help you make a decision whether you’re going to go one way or the other?”
Scott: Right. I love to make fun of those guys a little bit, off to the side, because it seems like that phone call always ends in, “Well, I got your number.”
Jon: Right.
Scott: It’s like, “Okay, yeah. Well, I got yours too.” What I always like to ask, “What is it? Obviously, you want to do this. Obviously, you want to buy this product. We’ve given you everything that you’re looking for, but now you’re telling me that you’re not sure? What’s going to change? Obviously I haven’t done my job, if you’re not saying, “Let’s go ahead and get this done,” yourself right now, because everything, all signs point to yes. My magic 8 ball is saying, “Yes! Yes! Yes!” and then you’re saying that you’re not ready yet. What is it? What haven’t I done? What haven’t I gotten for you that’s going to make you move forward at this point?”
Jon: Right. That’s a good one. Then, also, “What’s changed since the beginning when we spoke, when you were hot and heavy? What’s changed in the last 2, 3 weeks (or whatever time span you’re talking to somebody) that you made such a change in your thought pattern? What caused you to stop in your tracks?”
Scott: Exactly.
Jon: Yeah.
Scott: “How can we address that as well?” This leads into something very similar. It’s another objection that’s a sheep in different clothing. That’s the same type of sheep, and it’s both equally bad. I say this one is, “Call me later. I’m not ready to do this,” which I think falls right in line with that last objection.
Jon: Right. That’s so frustrating.
Scott: The whole idea of call me later – I always want to address why, and just simply, why?
Jon: Right.
Scott: That brings out quite a bit, because sometimes if you ask it, they can sense a tone of your asking it in that way, and they, “Well, that’s my business, not yours.” “Well, no, let’s actually come to this. You say you’re not ready to move forward yet. Why is that?”
Jon: Right. That’s a great question. I think another good one is when you say to that person, “Can you please define “later?”
Scott: Right.
Jon: Right. A lot of us, as sales people, somebody says, “Oh, call me later.” We’ll call them in a month, or in two months, when later may be a week, or a day.
Scott: Right.
Jon: They got to work through a current issue, and so if you ask them to define a specific time frame, and then if they say a month, for example, then, if we’re all sales people on this, listening, if they say a month, I call them in a week.
Scott: Yes.
Jon: Right.
Scott: Absolutely. That’s something that, when you … Defining why is huge, because especially as beginning sales people, as newer sales people, a lot of times we’ve been hammered with the, “Call me after the holidays.” “Call me next month.” “Call me after the first of the year.” We get hammered with that so much. So, when someone says, “Call me later,” it’s important to define that, because like you said, I’ve been … I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been surprised where I’ve said, “Okay, when should I follow up?” They’re like, “Oh, how about a couple of hours?”
Jon: Right.
Scott: Like, “Whoa, I didn’t expect that. I expected you to say, “Call me after Halloween.” “Call me after Thanksgiving.” “Call me after Christmas.” “Call me after the first of the year.” “Call me after Valentine’s Day.” “Call me after St. Patrick’s Day.” “Call me after April Fool’s Day.” “Call me after Memorial Day.” “I should be ready to do this by the Fourth of July.’”
Jon: Right.
Scott: Right.
Jon: Then, also, on your point, just asking, “Why?” It almost gives the person that you’re talking to a minute to take a breath and really open up to you, because it’s probably typical for most sales people to then just keep drilling, drilling, drilling down, when – I agree with you – the question is so simplistic, and it opens up the space for them to speak, and then for so many more objections to come out on the table.
Scott: Right.
Jon: Probably nobody’s really asked them a question that is so, to them, probably that thought-provoking.
Scott: Right.
Jon: Right.
Scott: Because usually they’re just getting that stock used car salesman answer question.
Jon: Right, because they don’t even know why.
Scott: Exactly.
Jon: They don’t even know why. If you ask them why, it gets them to maybe say, “You know what? I don’t know why. Call me next week.”
Scott: Right.
Jon: Right.
Scott: I think … I share this story with a lot of the people that I mentor. This is a true story. I went into Best Buy about … This had to be over a year ago, because it was the day, I could tell you, the day that Batman the Dark Knight came out.
Jon: Good movie.
Scott: I wanted to buy that on Blue Ray. I don’t know why I needed it that day on Blue Ray. I don’t watch movies on weeknights anyway, but I needed it the day it came out. I just had that fervor. What happens when you walk into Best Buy? What’s the first thing they do?
Jon: They ask you what you want and where you want to go, and yadda-yadda.
Scott: Exactly. Guy says to me, “Hey, can I help you?” I said, “No, I know what I’m getting. I’m on a mission.” I just bee-lined right for that DVD section. I’m like, “I got this.” I’m walking around, I’m looking at the DVDs, and I see Batman cartoons. I see the original Batman with Michael Keaton. I see all these other Batmans. I don’t see the brand new, the Dark Knight Returns, or whatever the movie was called. I think it was the Dark Knight Returns. I could not find it. I’m looking. Another guy comes up. “Hey, can I help you?” “No, I know exactly what I’m looking for. No biggie. I know the alphabet. They’re alphabetical. How difficult can this be?” After about maybe 10 minutes of looking, I’m still prideful, haven’t asked for help. I remember that, as I walked in, right when the first guy says, “Hey, welcome to Best Buy. How you doing?” They always greet you when you walk in to stop you from shoplifting. Soon as I saw that, I walked by all the brand new release DVDs. Literally, it was right there. Had I just asked that first person that offered me help – had I just asked him – I would have been out of there probably 20 minutes sooner, happier. I wouldn’t have gotten frustrated trying to find this thing. I wouldn’t have felt stupid because I was that guy that said, “No, I’m just looking,” so many times. I think with our clients we need to remember that that first objection is really the equivalent of, “I’m just looking.” All we have to do is get through that and actually give the client some time to pull down their defenses.
Jon: I think … I agree with you, that’s a great story, and I think that as sales people, we have to know that until we get to the first three or four, until we break through those first three or four, we haven’t even started.
Scott: Right.
Jon: Right? We haven’t even started. A lot of times sales people will go once, go twice – especially new people – and they’ll give up. The game doesn’t start until the fourth or fifth objection.
Scott: Exactly.
Jon: Right.
Scott: The sale actually begins when you start getting objections.
Jon: Correct.
Scott: Because, until then, all you’re doing is telling, you’re not selling.
Jon: But you don’t differentiate yourself until you get to the fourth or fifth.
Scott: Right.
Jon: Because you got to bring … That is the sign of a seasoned sales person who is engaged and listening, and really tuned in to overcoming those objections. It’s just a big test. That’s it.
Scott: Right. I think we talked a little bit about isolating the objections. That’s important too. By listening to what the clients are saying up front, and bringing out the right information, asking the right questions up front, before we even talk about our product or why they should move forward with us, we can isolate a lot of those objections up front. One of the big ones that we get is, “I need to talk to my spouse. I need to talk to my wife. I need to talk to my husband.”
Jon: “I need to talk to my business partners.” Right.
Scott: Exactly. Finding out up front who is the decision maker and what parties need to be present to make that decision always helps.
Jon: Right.
Scott: You want to ask it in a way where it’s not like, “Jon, is it just you making this decision?”
Jon: No, absolutely right. That’s insulting.
Scott: You want to ask that in conversation.
Jon: Right.
Scott: As soon as they bring up what they do for a living, or bring up their spouse, or who their partners are, “Oh, okay. Great. Now, did you need me to get them on the phone now, as well?” We can work through that that way.
Jon: That’s critical. If you’re not talking to all the decision makers, then your probability is 20%, maybe.
Scott: Exactly.
Jon: Maybe. If you don’t ask the question, especially the right way, and you don’t get everybody on the same page, you can’t ever overcome … We’re talking about overcoming objections … You can’t overcome any objection because you may be overcoming objections with one person, but they’re not the ultimate decision maker.
Scott: Right.
Jon: You got to get everybody. With technology today, between webinars, and conference calls, and go to meetings, you can talk to everybody as long as you facilitate and ask the questions.
Scott: Exactly.
Jon: One more question that I think is important. You want to be able to talk to all the decision makers, but you also want to know who you’re competing with.
Scott: That’s good.
Jon: If you’re going to be overcoming objections, you got to know how to position yourself against your competition. A lot of times people won’t ask. Sales people, especially if you’re new, won’t ask who the decision makers are, and to talk to them, and they won’t ask who they’re competing with, because they think that they’re going to give out some big secret. With technology today, everybody knows all the players. You have to assume that all the players are calling that climate, so ask them, “Who am I competing with, and what it is about us versus them that would sway you to go with them versus us?” Ask those tough questions.
Scott: Right. Also knowing your competition in that respect, if you know that you’re going up against X, Y, Z company, and you offer a great product that X, Y, Z doesn’t offer, I would just gear everything towards that product, and all the benefits of that product, and why they should be using that product, and not even mention the other company while you’re doing that. Just tout the product, sell them on that one specific product that you know this other company doesn’t have, and just get them going, going, going on that. Then let them know, “Well, we can just do the vanilla product, just like everyone else, or we can do this.” You’re letting them know that you have what the other company has, plus you’ve got something way better that the other company can’t offer.
Jon: Right. We’ve talked about this on past episodes, never bashing the competition, but, like you said, propping yourself up.
Scott: Right.
Jon: Right.
Scott: Exactly. I think we’ve come up with some really good ways to overcome and isolate objections today. I think we also went a little bit long. As a matter of fact, I know we went a little bit long today.
Jon: Right.
Scott: We pride ourselves on The Seven Minute Sales Minute never actually being seven minutes.
Jon: Right, the seven-ish.
Scott: Exactly.
Jon: Right.
Scott: What we want to do at this point is thank you guys for listening one more time. I wanted to share one more personal anecdote before we go is that I’ve recently gotten back into full-time sales, Jon, as you know.
Jon: Right.
Scott: We talked about, the other day, about being consistent, right?
Jon: Right.
Scott: I found myself … I woke up, and I don’t know if I just wasn’t focusing on my clients or what, but I found myself in a two-day rut. I wasn’t doing … I wasn’t finding the success that I’ve always found. I took a step back, and I listened to my own phone calls. I self-evaluated, and I realized I was not being consistent. I wasn’t giving my clients the same Scott: that they normally got.
Jon: Right.
Scott: I was just being an order-taker for a few days. I stepped back and I actually reconfigured my own process, and I got more consistent. I gained consistency by going back and finding out what I had been doing the prior week that was finding success, and I turbo-charged my sales last week.
Jon: Good for you.
Scott: I actually listened to what we talked about. I dog-fooded it, as they say.
Jon: Right.
Scott: I couldn’t be happier.
Jon: Well, you know what, you and I aren’t perfect. We always are taking our own advice. We’re giving advice, but we’re also taking our own advice. The old adage, “Those who can’t do, teach.”
Scott: Right. Well, on that note, thank you everybody for listening.
Jon: Thank you.
Scott: Again, please subscribe and review us on iTunes. Every review helps.
Jon: Have a great day. Thank you. Speaker 3: Thank you for listening to this episode of The Seven Minute Sales Minute. For show notes and work sheets pertaining to this week’s show, check us out at thesevenminutesalesminute.com. Take today’s strategies and run with them. Increase your sales, and increase your income.
