The famous sales trainer and motivator, Zig Ziglar, calls objections, "A salesman's best friend." Why? Because if you get past them, the next logical step is closing the sale!

How about you? When you've been in a potential "big ticket" buying situation, did you ever pause and think, "Is this right for me? Am I doing what's best? Am I paying too much? Should I have looked elsewhere?"

Of course you have! These are normal questions that most human beings ask themselves before making big (or even small) buying decisions.

Successful salespeople know this and anticipate objections - some, like Ziglar, WELCOME THEM! If we can get past the customer's concerns, there is no reason that the sale can't proceed.

It is very important that the salesperson recognize just what kind of "push-back" is being raised. To be sure, there are many types of Obstacles/Objections/Concerns. The most common are what we call "The 4 D's +" :

• Doubt - The prospect doesn't believe that the offering will really help/do what's been described
• Disinterest - The prospect is comfortable with the "status quo" and isn't motivated to change
• Disadvantage - The offering lacks one or more of the prospect's stated requirements
• Doesn't Know (Yet) - That the offering really does meet a stated requirement
• And (surprise!) - The price is too high

It is important for the salesperson to be certain that the prospect is raising a "good faith" concern. It is also important to get to the "true" concern - for a variety of reasons, prospects will sometimes raise a "smokescreen" to hide their real issues. (Out of embarrassment, for instance.)

We will first want to ask something like, "Sir/Madam, the issue that you've raised certainly merits consideration. If, somehow, we are able to resolve this concern, is there any reason that we can't reach agreement on this proposal?"

If the prospect says there is no reason, then go forward, using the appropriate resolution below. However, if the answer is yes, then we need to get to the "real" stumbling block (and forget about any others.)

"Active listening skills" will play an important role here.

Generally, we want to:

• Recognize - what the prospect has said
• Ask Why - the prospect thinks/feels that way
• Verify - the prospect's concern and our understanding of it
• Outweigh/Overcome - the concern with the benefits of the offering
• Confirm - the prospect's agreement with the "new" situation

Each of the types outlined above requires a little different variation in the Outweigh/Overcome aspect of our approach:

The key to overcoming Doubt is to offer relevant proof. Examples are: a testimonial from a previously-skeptical but now-satisfied customer, a "lab/government report", a product demonstration, etc. The prospect who expresses doubt is simply looking for "confirmation." Once that is provided, a close usually results.

One way to get past Disinterest is to go back to asking questions about their current situation and what it may lack - see Newsletter No. 4 - "Things to Say When You Do Make Contact" The prospect is "disinterested" because we haven't yet uncovered a "pain."

To surmount a Disadvantage, Outweigh it with other, previously agreed-upon benefits. So, "Yes, we don't have X. Surely, the fact that you'll be able to (save time, money, sleep better at night, relieve your stress and anxiety, get promoted, live a better life, .) outweighs X, doesn't it?"

Doesn't Know (Yet) is a pleasant "obstacle" for the salesperson. Because, we DO have the required benefit - the prospect just doesn't know that yet. HOWEVER, before we start rejoicing, we still need to go through the prescribed approach to be sure that we don't have "happy ears."

Now comes the most frequent (and, potentially the trickiest) objection. When a prospect says, "The price is too high", it usually means that he/she is:

1. Ensuring that the price is competitive (market-driven)
2. Comparing the price to internal/traditional/other prices
3. Genuinely believes that the value is simply not there
4. Doesn't have sufficient funding

Again, we first go through the same approach as with other concerns, to make sure that we know the right issue.

Also, see: http://www.salestraininginc.com/prices.htm