Addressing Concerns and Earning Commitment

Chapter 8

Sales Resistance – Buyer’s objections to a product or service during a sales presentation.

Reasons Why Prospects Raise Objections

1. The prospect wants to avoid the sales interview. Some prospects do not want to create any more work for themselves than they already have.

2. The salesperson has failed to prospect and qualify properly. Sometimes, poor prospects slip through the screening process.

3. Objecting is a matter of custom. Many purchasing agents have a motto never to buy on the first call with a salesperson.

4. The prospect resists change. Many buyers like the way that they are currently doing business.

5. The prospect fails to recognize a need. The prospect may be unaware of a need, uninformed about the product or service, or content with the situation as it is.

6. The prospect lacks information. Ultimately, all sales resistance comes back to the fact that the prospect simply lacks the information he or she needs to make a decision comfortably.

Types of Objections

No Need -Buyer has recently purchase or does not see a need for the product category. “I am not interested at this time.”

Product or Service Objection -Buyer might be afraid of product reliability. “I am not sure the quality of your product meets our needs.”

Company Objection -Buyer is intensely loyal to the current supplier. “I am happy with my current supplier’s service.”

Price Is Too High -Buyer has a limited budget. “We have been buying from another supplier that meets our budget constraints.”

Time/Delaying -Buyer needs time to think it over. “Get back with me in a couple of weeks.”

Using LAARC: a Process for Negotiating Buyer Resistance

Listen: Salespeople should listen to what their buyers are saying.

Acknowledge: As buyers complete their statements, salespeople should acknowledge that they received he message and that they appreciate and can understand the concern.

Assess: This step calls for salespeople to ask assessment questions to gain a better understanding of exactly what their buyers are saying and why they are saying it.

Respond: Based on his or her understanding of what and why the buyer is resisting, the salesperson can respond to the buyer’s resistance.

Confirm: After responding, the salesperson should ask confirmatory questions – response checks to make sure that the buyer’s concerns have been adequately met.

Recommended Approaches for Responding to Objections, p. 1

Forestalling – A response to buyer objections in which the salesperson answers the objection during the presentation before the buyer has a chance to ask it.

Direct Denial – A response to buyer objections in which the salesperson tells the customer that he or she is wrong.

Indirect Denial – A response to buyer objections in which the salesperson takes a softer more tactful approach when correcting a prospect or customer’s information.

Translation or Boomerang – A response to buyer objections in which the salesperson converts the objection into a reason the prospect should buy.

Recommended Approaches for Responding to Objections, p. 2

Compensation – A response to buyer objections in which the salesperson counterbalances the objection with an offsetting benefit.

Questions or Assess – a response to buyer objections in which the salesperson asks the buyer assessment questions to gain a better understanding of what they are objecting to.

Third-Party Reinforcement – A response to buyer objections in which the salesperson uses the opinion or data from a third-party source to help overcome the objection and reinforce the salesperson’s points.

Securing Commitment and Closing, p. 1

Commitment Signals – Favorable statements a buyer makes during a sales presentation that signal buyer commitment.

Trial Commitment – An earning commitment technique that determines the attitude of your buyer toward a particular feature or benefit.

Direct Commitment – A selling technique in which the salesperson asks the customer directly to buy.

Alternate/Legitimate Choice – A selling technique in which the salesperson asks the prospect to select from two or more choices during a sales presentation.

Securing Commitment and Closing, p. 2

Summary Commitment – A selling technique in which all the major benefits the buyer has confirmed over the course of the sales calls.

T-Account or Balance Sheet Commitment – A selling technique in which a salesperson asks the prospect to brainstorm reasons on paper of why to buy and why not to buy.

Success Story Commitment – A selling technique in which a salesperson relates how one of his or her customers had a problem similar to the prospect’s and solved it by using the salesperson’s product.

Traditional - yet overly aggressive - closing techniques

Standing-Room Only Closing – A sales closing technique in which the salesperson puts a time limit on the client in an attempt to hurry the decision to close.

Assumptive Close – A sales closing technique in which the salesperson assumes that an agreement has been reached and places the order form in front of the buyer and hands him or her a pen.

Fear or Emotional Close – A sales closing technique in which the salesperson tells a story of something unfavorable if the purchase in not made.

Continuous Yes Close – A sales closing technique that uses the principle that saying yes gets to be a habit; the salesperson asks a number of questions formulated so that the prospect answers yes.

Minor-Points Close – A sales closing technique in which the salesperson seeks agreement on relatively minor issues associated with the full order.