CHAPTER
Turning Objections into Sales
Zig
It might come as a surprise to you when I say this, but the thing that we salespeople ought to get the most excited about are objections. You see, if there were no objections to begin with, there’d be no need for us as salespeople. People would just go ahead and buy everything, and we would be out of the picture. One of the most important aspects of selling is dealing with those objections.
To begin with, let’s understand the basic difference between a question and an objection. A question simply means they’re seeking information. How long will it take for delivery? What colors does this come in? A person who raises an objection is looking for encouragement. They are saying, “I have an interest in this, and I want you to give me some encouragement about the way I can end up owning what you are selling.” No objections and no interest, I think, go together without any doubt.
Objections are our friends. They clearly say to us as salespeople, “Yes, I am interested in what you are selling.” You don’t have to answer all objections. That’s the first thing that I want to make clear.
For example, this set of clothes I have on. I did not like all of the things about this suit. As a matter of fact, there were two things I didn’t like about it, and yet I bought the suit.
What were the two things I didn’t like? I wasn’t overly excited about the price. I just to have to fess up going in; I wasn’t. The second thing I didn’t like about it was the fact that I have to wear a belt. I prefer the other kind, but my wife told me it was a nice fit and that the color went well with me. She said, “Honey, I like it.” All objections were overcome. I bought the suit.
The third thing about objections is the fact that when you’re out in the world of selling, approximately 90 percent of them will be the same. In many cases, what you need is a new presentation or a more conclusive or inclusive presentation, because if the same one keeps coming up, it indicates that you’re not doing enough selling in the presentation itself.
Let me say this as point number four. There’s a formula which fits in most cases, and you can adapt this formula and follow it in handling objections. However, we need to remember that there are many different kinds of prospects. You have the animal prospect, who’s going to bear it in mind, the insomniac prospect, who’s going to sleep on it, the musical prospect, who will make a note of it, and the playful prospect, who’s just feeling out the market.
I believe we need to clearly understand that all prospects, regardless of what kind they are, have two basic things in common. Number one, they want to be right. Now, salespeople, you can relate to that. You know you want to be right. Number two all of us will relate to also. The prospect wants to be understood.
There are four times and opportunities to handle objections. The first is before they occur, the second time is when they occur, the third time is later on the presentation, and the fourth time is never. Some objections simply should never be given any credibility at all.
By far the most effective place to handle an objection is before it occurs. When the same one keeps coming up, as I said a moment ago, you need to reorganize that presentation.
Many years ago, a man named Harry Lemons, who was the inventor of this particular food-chopping machine, taught me a couple of things that I was really excited about. I used to demonstrate these things at state fairs and on television. I’ve sold lots of them. When I turned that crank, that food would come tumbling out, and we could make it do tricks. We could make that machine talk cutting those fresh vegetables.
Invariably we encountered two major objections. I’d be right in the middle of the demonstration, and some member of the group there—a lady generally, because they’d be the ones who would end up using it at home—would ask me, “Mr. Ziglar, if I bought that machine, could I use it like you use it?”
I’d always look at her, and I’d smile, and I’d say, “No, ma’am. There’s no way that you will ever be able to use this machine like I use it.” You might think that’s a strange thing for me to say, but I did it for a couple of reasons. Number one, I was telling her the truth. I don’t believe there’s a housewife in 10,000 who could ever learn to use that machine as I did, and I explained why.
Basically, they have 101 other things to do. They’re going to use the machine two or three or four times a week. I was using it several hours every single day. It’s not likely that they could do what I could do with it. But how many machines would I have sold if I had stopped it right there? I wanted to sell machines, so here’s what I answered with in the presentation.
I’d say, “No, ma’am, you could never use it like I do, because you have so many other things to do, but let me tell you how effectively you can use it. The machine comes with an instruction book, and I can give you this book right now. If you will spend five minutes reading the book, I can give knives,” and I’d pick out the three ladies who were closest to me, “I can give the sharpest knives available to these three ladies, and in five minutes’ time with this machine, you can cut more food better and faster than all three of these ladies with the knives combined.
“You’ve never used the machine. They’ve been using knives all of their lives, but you could cut more with a machine not because you’re an expert with the machine but because you have the machine, which does the job, and that’s what you really want, isn’t it?” I would use that also as a trial close right there.
“As you can see,” I’d say, “we have five blades. One blade is on the machine, and there are four other blades, and they’ll do an awful lot of things.” I would demonstrate one of the blades, and then when I finished demonstrating the first blade, I’d use another trial close. I would have cut about seven or eight foods, and I’d say, “As you can see, we only have used one blade, and we’ve cut all of this beautiful food. Now ladies, let me ask you. If the machine only had one blade, how many of you already feel that’s something that you really want to have in your home? Can I see your hands?”
I would get my best prospects immediately right there. Then, I would demonstrate the rest of the blades.
The second objection that would often come up was people would ask me, “Mr. Ziglar, if I bought that machine, could I cut my hand on it?”
I’d grin, and I’d say, “Yes, ma’am. We don’t recommend it, but if that’s really what you want to do, it’s a very simple procedure. All it takes is coordination. You insert the finger as you turn the crank. Now get it straight. Insert finger, turn crank, and when you do, the red comes out right here. If you don’t want to cut your hand, keep it out of the machine.”
What is this doing? You’re selling on the offense. Your believability is greater if you handle the objections in the body of the presentation. Otherwise you are apparently defending instead of selling on the offense.
Regardless of the kind of prospect, if the objection occurs during the presentation, there are some basics you can follow, especially on the first objection. For example, you might be demonstrating tires, and the prospect might say, “I don’t believe these tires are rugged enough for our use.” Now what do you do?
Number one, you hear the objection out. Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, put it this way: “He who answers the matter before he hears it is not wise.” Let them get the objection out. Number two, you act pleased that they’ve brought it up. Objections thrive on opposition, but they die with agreement: “I’m really glad you raised that issue.” Don’t use the word objection, but raised that issue. You truly should be glad, because that says, “I’m interested.”
Number three, you change the objection to a question: “Your question, as I understand it, is, will these tires hold up under the day-to-day pounding our city streets will give them? Is that what you’re asking?” That way you get the customer involved.
Number four, you need to get the commitment that this is the only question: “Mr. Prospect, is this the only question you have which stands between you and an ownership of these tires, or would there be something else?” You obviously wait for the answer.
Number five, you use the question-objection as the reason for going ahead: “Actually, Mr. Prospect,” you say, “the question you raise is the reason we do so much business in this city. Fleet test after fleet test firmly established the fact that our superreinforced, steel-belted radials are ideally suited for rugged city street usage. As a matter of fact, that’s the very reason that XYZ Company,” and then you parade your testimonials, and you close the sale at that point.
If the prospect brings up another objection after you’ve completed your presentation, handle it in the same manner, but if they bring up yet another objection, you respond with a question: “Mr. Prospect, do you mind if I ask you, is this the only question which stands between you and a favorable decision concerning our product, or would there be something else?”
If that’s the only other question, you answer it, you assume the sale, and you attempt to close, but if the prospect says, “Well, I’m also concerned about—” and they start bringing other things out, then you take your talking pad, and whatever the objection might be, you write it down. It might be price, it might be they don’t know that much about your company. It might be the guarantee. You write them down. Then you simply say, “Are these the only objections?” You deal with them one at a time, and as you do, you simply say, “Is that a satisfactory answer to your question?” Then you cross them out. “Does that clarify the issue to your satisfaction?” would be another way of putting it.
When you have them all crossed out, then subliminally you have said, “I’ve eliminated any reason for you not owning the product. Therefore you in essence have said, ‘I want to go ahead and do business with you.’”
As salespeople, we need to understand this: the prospect wants to say yes. I know that might surprise some of you, especially if you’ve had a half-dozen nos in a row. They really do want to say yes. One reason is that no is so final. You know, there’s something about us people that makes us want to not totally terminate any relationship unless it is a bad one. If you’ve been acting in a professional manner, they really do want to say yes.
There’s a second reason why they want to say yes: if they don’t say yes to you, and if there’s a need for this or a similar product, they’re going to have to talk to another salesperson. In our company, for example, a lot of times we have certain needs, and I know that on occasion we have bought although we had not had all of our objections answered. But we had looked and looked to find. The comment would be made, “Well, we would have to go through it again.”
They really do want to do business. Most of your prospects do. They want to say yes.
Some objections that you encounter are better to answer later. You might be demonstrating one feature, and they ask something entirely unrelated. If you can answer it in one word, I would suggest you go ahead and do it, even if it’s just a sentence or so, except when they bring up price. It might not be appropriate to answer that right at that moment.
But if you don’t want to handle the objection at that point, simply say, “You know, that’s a very exciting feature of our product. You are going to be delighted when I get to that point, but if you don’t mind, let me pursue this, because we’re at such a critical area that I need to tie some things together which are very relevant, but I promise to get back to it. If I neglect to do that, would you remind me? Don’t you forget.” As a matter of fact, if you’re wise on your talking pad, you will scratch a little note so they can see that you’re not trying to put them off, that you really do want to answer them.
Now you need to plan ahead. You should memorize a lot of ways to say the same thing. If you do, you will come to realize there are a lot of ways to say the same thing, but there’s only one way to say it the best. Find out what that best way is and stay with it.
Again, when they bring up the objection you do not want to answer right then, you act pleased. You get permission to delay: “If you don’t mind, I’d like to answer that question in a moment, and I promise to do exactly that.” Keep that promise. Then you close that little bit down by saying, “Is that fair enough?” Everybody basically wants to be fair, so when you say, “Is that fair enough?” they give you permission.
Some objections are not meant to be answered, so you just kind of smile and ignore them, but if the question comes up again, regardless of how absurd it sounds, you then deal with it.
Here’s something we need to understand. You’re not in the sales-answering-objection business. You’re in the sales business. I have been on calls on many occasions where I was training another salesperson, and I would watch that salesperson answer an objection. Then they would, in essence, fold their arms and say, “Well, I handled that pretty good. Go ahead, shoot another one at me. I’ll take care of it too. Go ahead, challenge me.” That’s crazy. You answer the objections, then you close.
Sometimes selling involves simple little analogies, or it involves just asking for the order. I’m thinking of a friend of mine named Randy Cooper up in Enid, Oklahoma. He runs a furniture store. Randy told me that he’d been listening to our tapes, and he’d been able to translate a couple of my examples and utilize them, with slight alterations, to fit his business perfectly.
He was telling me about this lady who came in for a reclining chair. Her husband was getting it for her as a Christmas present, and he sent her down to the store to pick it out. She had brought her teenaged daughter along with her, found exactly the chair she wanted. It was $449.95. She loved it, and she said to Randy, “I’ll go home and talk to my husband.”
Randy said, “You know, I have two children, and I keep them three and four days a week. My grocery bill runs about $100 a week.”
The lady said, “There are three of us, and that’s about what my grocery bill runs.”
“You know,” Randy said, “I’d almost bet you that you never really talk to your husband about that grocery bill. You just go ahead and buy the groceries, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Interestingly, $100 a week is over $5000 a year. You never ask your husband about the $5000. He’s anxious for you to have this. He’s giving it to you. Do you really want to go home and talk to him about it?”
Randy said the lady looked down at her teenaged daughter and said, “I’ll take it.” A simple, little analogy which she could relate to.
Often people don’t get the order because they don’t ask for it. Randy was sharing with me that this couple had been in to refurnish their home. They had been married a number of years. The kids were now grown to the degree that they wouldn’t destroy the furniture any longer, so the order was significant, and the bill was substantial. When Randy presented the total, the lady said, “Ooh, that is a lot of money. We’ll go home and talk about this.”
Randy acted as if he had not heard a word that she said. He looked at the husband and said, “Let me ask you this question. When you get this, are you going to want to haul it home yourself, or will you want me to deliver it?”
The man turned to his wife, and said, “What do you think?”
Remember that ten seconds earlier she had said, “We’ll go home and think about it,” but when the husband said, “What do you think?” she vehemently answered, “Shucks, no. He charges money to deliver that stuff. We’ll just take it home ourselves.” Ask for the order.
Let’s take a quick look at three different kinds of prospects. First of all, there’s Gary Gullible. You deal with old Gary in an open, straightforward way. Tell him lots of human-interest stories. He’s more likely to buy because he likes and trusts you than for any other reason. He responds to persuasion but is offended with speed and pressure. Deal with him gently but confidently.
Then there’s the other end of the spectrum. There’s old Sidney Skeptical. The skeptical, antagonistic prospect wants to be right, and he wants to be understood. When he raises a dogmatic objection with a little anger, cynicism, or sarcasm hidden underneath it, you should respond by saying, “I’m delighted you raised that question, Mr. Prospect. To make absolutely certain I clearly understand what you’re saying, would you mind repeating it?”
This does a couple of things. First of all, it indicates an honest effort on your part to be fair, and it also indicates that you place considerable importance on what the prospect is saying. Additionally, when he repeats his objection, chances are good he will substantially reduce the tone of that objection.
I’ve had that happen to me a thousand times in my sales career. Somebody will be dogmatic, sarcastic, even antagonistic in their objection. I’d say, “I appreciate your position, but to make really certain I understand it, would you mind repeating it?” It’s astonishing how much softer it comes out the second time. You can deal with it far more effectively.
In dealing with skeptical, antagonistic prospects, it’s important not to argue or contradict what they’re saying, even if they’re wrong. Let them finish saying what they have to say. Get it off their chest, blow off that steam. Once that is out of their system and they’ve seen that you’re concerned about them, your chances of penetrating their minds and closing the sale are increased substantially.
There’s old Ivan Indecisive. You know about Ivan, who wanted to start a procrastinators’ club but decided to wait until later. Ivan simply cannot make a decision. He takes a pep pill to get charged up to do something and then mixes it with Valium, so if nothing happens, it won’t bother him.
The way to deal with him is to win his confidence, which you do by being the right kind of person. Demonstrate considerable empathy, move to his side of the table, and let him know you’re on his side. Reassure him that yes, he is making the right move. Your own conviction and belief that your product is what he should buy will be the determining factor. Remember, he’s having trouble deciding if he should buy. If you have any doubts that you should sell, you can rest assured that he won’t buy. Push him. Be firm.
The sales professional is one who understands very thoroughly that he can have all the prospects he wants. He can get all the appointments he wants. He can make all the presentations he wants, but until he takes advantage and capitalizes on closing opportunities, he is never going to be successful in the world of selling.
I’ve had it said so many times by a lot of salespeople. They come to me and say, “You know, I can do everything but close. I know how to get prospects. I know how to set up appointments. I know how to handle objections. I can do everything but close.”
What they’re really saying is, “I don’t know how to sell,” because until you close, you’re nothing but a conversationalist. You need to know how to handle these objections and use them as a closing opportunity.
One secret of successful selling is that the professional is always on the grow. Be a pro and grow. That’s important for building a sales career.