Client hesitation or objections to buying from us are indicators we have failed in some keys areas in our preparation, questioning or solution explanation with the client. We have not fully understood what the client needs; have not matched our solution with what they need; have not shown sufficient value from our solution and have not created any sense of urgency to take action now. It is hard enough getting all of these right in the face to face environment, so we can’t be surprised that we are having even more trouble when dealing with the buyer remotely.
Try these four steps for handling client push back.
Did we really hear what the client wants in our previous calls? We may have missed some vital information previously and this is our last chance to get clarity about what the client is thinking.
The objection we are hearing is probably something we have heard before. We think we already know what the client is going to say before they finish and we jump in to overcome the objection. Big mistake! We have to really understand what is the problem, not what we think is the problem. Stay completely silent until they have finished speaking.
When we hear the objection we often have a nervous knee jerk reaction and say the first thing that comes into our mind. This is rarely our best response. We need a few seconds to think how we are going to approach this with the client. This is where we make a neutral statement, which neither agrees nor disagrees with the client so we can buy ourselves some thinking time. It might be something like, “I know making the right decisions for the company is very important for you”. In the few seconds it takes to say that, our brain can move to objection handling mode rather than reacting emotionally to what was said by the client.
The first thing we should do is do nothing – we should absolutely not respond to what we heard. Instead, we should ask them why that objection is a problem for them. Now we are not sitting there face to face so we have to be incredibly careful how we ask this why question.
In Japan, this question could be taken as a challenge to everything they have said and it sounds like we are accusing them of lying or not being clear enough in their explanation. Neither are good responses from the buyer. So we sweetly and with great naïve curiosity, ask “Thank you for explaining the issue. I should know your business in more detail and much better, but to really help me find the best way forward for you would you mind if I asked you to explain a little bit more on why the issue you have raised is creating difficulties for your firm?”.
In a very delicate fashion, we need to keep digging for hidden issues too. There is bound to be more than one issue. What we have been told may not be the deal breaker, because there is another bigger problem lurking in the shadows. We need to flush out all of their objections and then decide which is the exact issue we need to fix? We need to get the client talking because we will pick up valuable information about their situation and constraints on them moving forward.
Now we know what need to say we have three choices:
Deny: We should not accept anything from the client which is factually incorrect or is misinformation. Correct it immediately and be prepared to offer concrete proof.
Admit: Admit any problems your company has had now or in the past. Don’t try and deny things which are true, we come across as mealy mouthed, duplicitous and untrustworthy. We learn from our mistakes, we correct errors and we have moved forward from where we were. We need to point that out
Reverse: Turn the objection into a reason for buying. For example, “your delivery options are too slow” is countered by saying, “We have found that taking that extra care and attention before we ship to our clients, really eliminates potential problems and in the overall scheme of things, makes everything run much smoother”.
Explain: Now we have better understood the client’s situation and needs, we again start on the solution provision to persuade them to buy. We do this by providing relevant proof and evidence that shows what we claim is true and they can trust the solution will work. We speak about where our solution has worked for other buyers, providing the names and numbers of people they can call to validate how our solution really helped.
Evaluate: Check that we have dealt with their objection completely. Are they ready to move forward? Actually, when online we need to be doing more mid-term checking for understanding than we would in a face to face situation.
There is no doubt that the basics of sales still apply whether face to face or meeting online. We should assume less though and ask more clarifying questions when we meet online. Anticipate the communication is going to problematic and work on that basis everytime.
We do a great job on building trust with the client. We get permission to ask questions and away we go on that magic journey of buyer needs discovery. We have a clear idea that we can help, know what will happen and what the likely outcomes will be for the buyer. We are doing a good job as a sales professional, then suddenly we drop the ball, we stumble at the finish line, we flub it. We are presenting our solution, but we are not persuasive and we don’t get the business.
The solution provision component of the sales process has a number of clear steps. Just going through the motions reciting the features of the solution like a pirate’s tired parrot is so very 1970s, you can hardly believe there are salespeople today still doing this. These features are dry facts, basic information about what is involved. If we only do this, we are relying on the client to get excited about a solution, but we are underpowering the persuasion part to push them to buy.
The hole we make in some materials such as wood, brick, concrete, steel etc., with a drill is the result the client wants and the drill is the mere tool to provide the outcome. We need to know what we are going to be drilling into, by asking basic questions. All good and here is where the storytelling becomes important. When we get to the benefits part of the conversation we need to weave storytelling into the conversation. We relate how our solution made a dramatic difference for another client by relating the background and context.
For example, “This Super Drive 4 Speed Supremo Model is just what you need for this concrete drilling job you have in mind. This is the preferred model for professional construction crews. They are required to get the wooden framing attached to the concrete base as quickly and rigidly as possible, because these crews are always under tremendous time pressure. Weather problems, supply delays, missed deadlines are the bane of their lives. They cannot work with inferior equipment because time is money for subcontractors, as you know.
Last month we sold a batch of drills to a crew who were building a shopping mall, so you can imagine how much concrete square meterage was involved. It was a big order, so I delivered the drills for them.
Watching these skilled tradesman at work was incredible. The speed at which they swarmed all over that Shopping Mall foundation with those drills was amazing. They were flying and before you knew it, the base boards were done and the vertical struts were all up becoming an instant forest. The strength of the drill power was just perfect for concrete. Yes, the Super Drive 4 Speed Supremo Model will serve you well for many years of great reliability and service”.
The imagery of the vast Shopping Mall concrete slab, the swarming tradesmen, the forest of vertical struts are things we can see in our mind’s eye. This information is going to capture our imagination in a way that data about the weight of the drill, battery life, the drill bit capture mechanism, the charging protocols, the power output, the colour range and speed dials will not.
So think about your product or service. How can you tell a story about how another client made use of your solution, telling a story which is both powerful and memorable? In the construction story there was some drama about the Shopping Mall construction completion deadlines that gives the story more reality and flavour. What drama points can you add to your story, rather than relying on the dry retelling of the main points?
We remember stories more easily than miscellaneous data. We want our clients to remember what we are telling them and to remember us. So, revise your solution provision section of your sales process and see what fabulous stories you can tell the client, to persuade them to buy. This is what will differentiate you from all of your competitors, making you memorable in the mind of the buyer.
An ideal work week for salespeople would start everyday with sales role play with colleagues. When we do serious exercise we warm up to get into prime condition for becoming better at our activities. It is the same with sales, we need to warm up before we interact with clients. We need to get our communication vehicle into top well maintained condition. By practicising what we will be saying to the client we will be so much better when we come face to face or face to screen with the client. Yet, how many people do this every day? How about a couple of times a week? How about never?
Sadly the “never” answer would be the overwhelming majority. Clients don’t need any preparatory work to say, “your price is too high”. Buyers are all given this facility at birth, so they are always ready to go. Salespeople on the other hand, have to work hard at setting up the context for the client, so that the “your price is too high” missile is never launched. Given this reality why aren’t profession salespeople working hard to perfect their skills before they are interacting with buyers?
Too busy would be the typical excuse. Really? What about between 8.00am and say 8.30am in the mornings? Probably everyone has this slot open to them. No one to lead the session is another cop out. What leadership does it take to buddy up and go through different aspects of the sale’s call? None. Every sales team could self regulate and practice with each other. All that is needed is to tell your partner what they were doing well in their role play and then tell them how they could make it even better.
We can also make sales role plays fun. We can set up some variables for variety. We can allocate different personality styles to be played out as the buyer. The Driver – time is money types, “tell me what you want and then buzz off buddy, I’m busy”. The Amiable – “let’s have a cup of tea together and get to know each other better”. The Analytical, “can I get the data to three decimal places?”. The Expressive, “let me grab the whiteboard marker and outline for you why we are going to have a spectacular year this year. Later let’s catch up for Happy Hour and have a few drinks”. The buyer in the role play practices adjusting their communication piece to deal with the different types of buyers.
Another game is the pushback variable game. We have different types of objections written down and placed in a container. Like getting an evil fortune cookie, the role play buyer pulls out the objection and the salesperson has to deal with it on the spot. A few rounds of this and probably most of the typical pushback conversations will have been covered, the random nature of the selection means we have to think on our feet. We can also have another bowl and draw out which personality style is giving us the objection and start coming up with different combinations. For example, the Driver says your delivery reliability is not any good with an aggressive snarl. Are you ready for that and how will you handle it? The next one is the Analytical, so you need to go data, evidence and proof heavy, are you ready for it? Your get the idea.
The storytelling game is another angle. It might be the story of your firm in Japan, or the story of your products. The buyer selects the story theme from the bowl and you have to tell that story in under 2 minutes and thirty seconds. Why this short time frame? We need enough length to get the story pumping , but short enough that we are not boring our audience. Three minutes or more in length and we are pushing things with the listener’s patience. Now here is an interesting question? Do you have your company Japan story ready to go? What about an individual story about particular products? People don’t keep data in their minds, but they are able to retain interesting stories. When I was a kid growing up in Brisbane, I remember the radio DJs telling a bunch of trivia related to my favourite bands. I always thought to myself, wouldn’t it have been more beneficial if they had told stories with something more advantageous to the country, than some rock legend’s doings. The point is we can use stories to make sure the buyer remembers us when they are looking around for a solution. Storytelling is a powerful arrow in our communication quiver.
Suddenly my phone rang and the number was clearly from overseas, because of the country code. It was not a number I recognised. The crackly voice at the other end of the line was unknown to me and they shot out their name very quickly. I couldn’t catch it. The company name was unfamiliar too. Silently, I wondered, “Who is this and why are they calling me?”. Now, our business is global, so there is always the faint possibility it could be a potential HR Director client from overseas calling to seek training for their team in Japan. Naturally, it is better to be patient and treat the call as possible new business, until proven otherwise. No abrupt hanging up on these callers is allowed, until you know better.
Gradually it became clear he was an Englishmen from Hong Kong calling me to broker the purchase of shares in a Chinese electric car company called Nio. He gave me his firm’s URL, so while we were talking, I could pull up information about his firm. This was a good move on his part for building credibility and I thought “well done”. I asked for his name again, but I couldn’t see any reference to it on the website. Uh oh! This was now looking extremely doubtful and I thought, “am I being lured into an international investment scam here?”.
I let him speak, asked for his name again and questioned him on why his name didn’t appear anywhere on the website. Interestingly, he didn’t know where his own name was located on his own website, to guide me where to look. That would be a very basic requirement I would have thought, in his line of business. It turned out I had misheard his name and once corrected, I found out he was a real person working for this company. He was rabbiting on about the 60% to 70% returns on the share price I could enjoy, if I got into the market now, held the shares and then exited in three months. All I had to do was produce $5000 to get started.
We probably had a ten minute conversation on the phone. We ended the conversation with me to consider his information and he would get back to me. I reflected on this gentleman’s sales approach. I concluded that there is what we call in Japanese a hanmen kyoshi, or instruction by negative example, teachable moment here.
At no point in our conversation did he ask me anything about my investment objectives, strategy, preferences, history, current commitments or access to liquid assets. He did ask me if I had experience of buying shares, which I did. His offer was based around the attractiveness of a three month return based on the expectation that this share price would now begin to rise in the next few months. When I searched the share price trends of the Nio company, I noticed that the shares had been fairly flat in their trajectory so far. The best share purchase bargain is of no use if you don’t have the spare five grand to pony up to buy them. He took the trouble to ask whether I had every bought shares, but he didn't ask me about the results I had experienced. What a critical question that is and what a sad saga.
My share market investment history has been miserable. It has been littered with mistakes, losses and dismal performance. Actually, I have always preferred real estate and have had the bulk of my investments focused there. The returns have been outstanding for me, because I have a thirty year plus time frame, which really suits real estate investing. Australians tend to love real estate more than the share market and I am one of them. It also suits my mental acuity, because I am not smart enough to time markets and be as nimble as you need to be with stocks.
You would think that, for a share broker, this insight would be very important to ascertain if I am actually a real prospect or not, but he proffered no questions along these lines. Maybe he was worried about the answers he might get? As salespeople though, we shouldn’t be afraid to ask the hard questions of prospects, because our time is our most valuable resource. We don’t want to be wasting it on people like me, who are not a viable customer to buy speculative shares in a Chinese electric car maker.
This guy said he had been doing this for many years. I wondered then, why hadn’t he learnt to introduce himself properly on the phone? Phone lines are a difficult beast at the best of times, but the unannounced call from a stranger from overseas severely elevates the degree of difficulty. He also spoke with a UK regional accent, which is why I thought his surname was Hull when in fact it was Holt. We want to establish trust with the client, so giving our name slowly and clearly and checking for understanding is absolutely essential. He didn’t bother with any of that. Also, I proactively looked for his personal information on the website. As a best practice, he should have done that, directing me where to find him. This approach would have helped to allay any fears I had this was a scam. I had to do all the work instead. Why would that be?
I am a sales guy, so I am usually willing to give salespeople a fair go on the phone. There is a big exception though - those Filipinas who read their designated script to me. I feel my intelligence is being grossly assaulted by their methodology and I am short in the patience department with them. Apart from that group of toothy sharks being led by total dummies, I will take the call. In all of these years of getting various cold calls, I can only think of one guy who called me, who did it well. Because my information is out there on some database, I regularly get hit up with these types of calls, so I am becoming very experienced with them.
The results show that these salespeople really need to do more work on their cold calling techniques. They are skipping the most obvious requirements. Consequently, they are squandering their most precious resource – their time. Don’t be one of them – get the cold calling training needed.