Many sales people will tell you one of the biggest worries in sales, besides prospecting, is dealing with customer objections.  Its true many people do not like dealing with objections or conflict, however, it is also true that many people unintentionally create objections and conflict by not understanding a customer’s real needs or priorities and failing to find common ground.

In my opinion ‘overcoming objections’ is often blown out of proportion in terms of the issue it claims to be. Too much time and attention is spent on objections in sales meetings and sales training rather than focusing on the skills and resources needed to help sales people eliminate objections from the sales process in the first place.

The two key strategies to eliminating the issue of objections are: Having a sound, logical sales communication process that sets you up to understand where a customer or prospect is coming from, what they value, what their real priorities are, why and when they are ready to make a decision to buy, and how sophisticated they are; and a sound knowledge of your offerings and how it fits or serves your market.

Utilising your very best communication skills such as focused questioning, active listening, verifying and paraphrasing, and creative problem solving are keys to eliminating objections and creating a dynamic, productive sales and buying experience for you and the customer.

Let’s rethink labelling every customer question or concern as an objection.  A customer asking a question about your product or service, seeking further clarification on a matter, or expressing confusion over a new product are not grounds for an objection, they are merely trying to understand what you or the product/service does in more detail.

They are often trying to see if there is match between you and them.  As sales people we should welcome these enquiries as the customer is fully engaged, showing interest, and seeking to find common ground as to whether to work with us or eliminate us from the equation. This should not be grounds for fear and loathing.

So what is an objection? An objection, as defined by www.dictionary.com, is a reason or argument offered in disagreement, opposition, refusal, or disapproval.

Based on this definition, in many cases sales people are not trying to overcome objections, they are working with the customer who is seeking information or clarification for a mutually beneficial outcome, the sale.  Dealing with nonconforming ideas or helping a customer coordinate a viable solution requires understanding, collaboration, and creative problem solving skills on the part of the sales person, not overcoming objection skills.

There are four common areas sales people come across which can, if not properly dealt with, lead to objections (and reactions):

1.    Misunderstanding – correct it
2.    Doubt – resolve it
3.    Limitation – compromise or put it into perspective
4.    Question – answer it

The reality is if you and the customer have not found common ground or agreement on an action to move the sale forward to the next logical stage it does not necessarily mean you have encountered an objection.  It may just mean a viable sales opportunity may not exist.  However, if you have not listened to the customer, tried to force your ideas onto them without their consent, or tried to bully them into a sale then the customer may object, and rightly so.

If during any stage, especially the last stage of the selling process, you encounter strong objections or indecision from your customer, it likely means one or more of these problems may exist:

• You didn’t really understand your customer’s/prospect’s needs or priorities in the first place and tried to put forward solutions they do not want
• Your customer/prospect doesn’t perceive having a need i.e. they maybe an uniformed buyer
• Your customer/prospect is not looking for a solution, i.e. maybe they are just on a fact finding mission
• You have not shown your customer/prospect what they think they need, i.e. there is a clash due to a mismatch between what you perceive as important and what they perceive as important
• Your customer/prospect cannot see any real value in your offering
• Your customer/prospect is not ready to buy yet
• Your customer/prospect does not have confidence in you or your company
• Your customer/prospect has unrealistic expectations you will never meet
• Your customer/prospect has other agendas or loyalties that do not understood, i.e. they have biases and are unlikely to buy from your not matter what

These situations and others like them are the realities of selling.  Our job as sales people it to properly understand our customers, their situation, their preferences, priorities, challenges, goals, and come up with viable solutions that are a win:win for both parties, or determine that a ‘no sale’ exists.  Either way everyone is in the know about what to expect which should reduce the need to object.  However, sometimes there is no simple solution to a customer’s concerns.  A customer will hesitate to move forward and if you can’t find a solution, maybe you can negotiate a resolution.

If you do happen to come across a real objection, below is a seven step process for handling objections:

1. Deal with the objection straight away, don’t ignore it.
2. Be trustworthy and empathise with feelings that are expressed; Use an appropriate manner by remaining calm, showing respect, and using positive language (talk about what can be done rather than what can’t be done).
3. Utilise your most effective communication skills, remembering to:  actively listen, question, solve problems, avoid making personal judgments, be flexible, and work together.
4. Ask questions to determine the real objection.
5. Restate objections to clarify the issue and gain agreement from the customer that this is their real concern.
6. Work towards seeing the situation from the customer’s point of view
7. Select a course of action which may include negotiating a resolution.

In short, the key to handling and eliminating objections effectively can only occur when open communication, cooperation and collaboration exist, however it is important to check and make sure it is a legitimate objection first.

Remember everybody lives by selling something.

Author: Sue Barrett, www.barrett.com.au

In December 2009 we published The 12 Sales Trends of 2010 and invited readers to vote on what they thought are the most important trends in sales.  Thank you to everyone who shared their views and voted.  Each month we will explore one of the trends in more detail, starting with the trend voted as most important, Lead the Way. As voted by you, here are the sales trends for 2010 in order of importance:

1.    Lead the Way
2.    Everybody lives by selling something
3.    Back to Basics
4.    Social Sales
5.    Noise Reduction
6.    Culture Fit
7.    The New Competition
8.    Through the Looking Glass
9.    Weathering the Storm
10.    Sustainable Selling
11.    A Sales Community
12.    Hot Bath Turns Cold

Lead the Way was the trend voted as most important by you, our readers.  As we discussed in The 12 Sales Trends of 2010 sales needs to be led from the top. In 2010, sales will be on the agenda of the ‘C’ suite and this will mean from the CEO down, including the CFO, COO, and CIO. Even if the ‘C’ suite never has contact with an external customer (which I strongly advise against) they need to know how to lead, sell in, and support the sales effort.

Why?

Despite millions, if not billions, of dollars being invested in sales training, CRM systems and the like, many leaders are realising that their frontend processes, backend systems, culture (including those staff who have not traditionally seen themselves involved in sales), and sales methodologies are not aligned with their customers.  In many cases theses processes and systems are also not connected internally causing, amongst other things,  duplication of effort, mixed messages, confusion, and lost sales opportunities.

Sadly, too many businesses still consider customers the sole responsibility of sales and marketing.  This is just asking for trouble.  For too long there has been a disconnect, if not a gulf, between those in ‘sales’ and those not in ‘sales’, often with the latter looking down their collective noses with disdain at anyone in a sales role.  This has got to change, if nothing else, for purely commercial reasons.  This is an issue for leaders.

Enlightened leaders will no longer tolerate or condone the domain of selling being isolated to the sales and marketing teams.  A truly customer centric, value added, highly profitable, integrated business can only flourish under clear and decisive leadership that puts forward a compelling business case for change, everyone in the business understands and can put into real and accountable action.

Those leaders who make it clear to their business that, without everyone performing their roles in a spirit of collaboration and cooperation with the customer at the heart, there will be no business. This is sure to get their peoples’ attention.   Those leaders will also place their key clients on their assets register, to ensure a conscious and actual value is accounted for by all.

Moving down the corporate ladder, businesses will make the most significant difference to sales through enlisting the support of all of their managers.  By educating them in the values and thinking frameworks, skills, structures, and processes needed to run a sales centric business.  In particular, by focusing their efforts on their Sales Managers they will also see better returns.  As a profession, Sales Managers receive the least formal training, often leaving people to work it out by themselves, even though formally trained Sales Managers show the highest positive correlation between training and results.  Time and time again, sales teams achieved higher performance and results when their Sales Managers were frequently and effectively trained and coached.  Word of caution: training and coaching without proper, integrated support structures in place won’t be nearly as effective.

In addition, we propose that Sales Managers should be the ambassadors for sales culture transformation.  Besides the obvious connection between leading and managing a sales team (which many Sales Managers would benefit from more training in), Sales Managers have a crucial leadership role to play within any business.  By acting as a critical link between all departments and customers via their sales teams, Sales Managers can communicate key information and initiatives to the market, as well as reporting back key findings to the leadership teams. This role ensures any adjustments, actions, or communication can be made in a timely manner.  Effective Sales Managers don’t get stuck behind a desk, they are out in-the-field reporting on marketing efforts and their effect, and they hear the real voices of customers firsthand and see the impact, good and bad, of initiatives.  They are a real connection between the business and customers.    They can, and should, be given a company-wide voice.  Enlightened leaders will make sure their Sales Managers are not relegated to being glorified administrators endlessly reporting and attending meetings and free them up to do what they do best, be the conduit between customers, sales people, and the business.

Sales Managers are a key communication life line.  How well does your business and leaders communicate with their teams and markets?  What messages are you sending? How are they being received?  Who is listening anyway?  Who is taking action?  How are you communicating? What are you hearing?

Communication is the key here.  As Charlie Magee, author of the Imagination age states:

“Evolution equals survival of the fittest communicators. (One might protest and say that economics is more basic than communication because one must survive in order to communicate, i.e. an ancient hunter of 40,000 years ago, alone in the grasslands, had to eat before he could communicate. Consider this, however: to this hunter, the wind, by carrying smells, communicates the direction of prey. The sun, by its position in the sky, communicates which animals are at the water hole. The hunter’s stomach, by growling, communicates a sense of urgency. Communication happens first. Then the hunter can eat.)

It took the universe 10 billion years to create a species that could speak. It took that species 3 million years to create a communication tool called writing. Then just 12,000 years to create the printing press.
500 years to create the computer. Put these figures on a chart: billions, millions, thousands, hundreds, then … decades? We’re looking at exponential change.  There are clues in the pattern of communication evolution.

The most successful groups throughout human history have had one thing in common: when compared to their competition they had the best system of communication. The fittest communicators-whether tribe, citystate, kingdom, corporation, nation-had (1) a larger percentage of people with (2) access to (3) higher quality information, (4) a greater ability to transform that information into knowledge and action, (5) and more freedom to communicate that new knowledge to the other members of their group.”

Those leaders and businesses who can integrate their frontend processes, backend systems, culture, people, sales methodologies, and communication strategies (including social media et al), underpinned with clear vision and values, and communicate their intentions clearly will lead the sales revolution.

Investing in properly training, educating, and supporting leaders and managers, especially Sales Managers, to be those crucial communication links will see significant lifts for businesses in 2010 and beyond. Many of these areas cannot be taken lightly; they take considered thinking, reflection, time, and courage to enact.  If you cannot do a company-wide makeover in 2010 then at least invest in your Sales Managers so they can help you Lead the Way.

Remember everybody lives by selling something.

Author: Sue Barrett, www.barrett.com.au

Building on my article ‘Where is my inner six year old when I need them?’  using effective questioning techniques is one of the most significant key differentiators between a person with good sales skills and a person with outstanding sales skills.  However, many sales people find this the most challenging aspect of the sales process.

Questions are used to not only assist you with gathering information about the customer i.e. their needs, situation, issues and priorities but also, when used effectively, assist the customer with coming to a clear understanding and realisation about what they need to do for themselves, hopefully with your assistance.

Although questions are asked at all stages of the Sales Process, most questioning should take place within the Customer Needs Analysis Phase which should occur near the beginning of the Sales Communication Process.  Despite the sales approaches of the past where sales people had a tendency to do most of the talking, the Customer Needs Analysis Phase is actually where you need to ask great questions and spend most of your time listening to the answers. As a  rule of thumb you should spend about 20% of you time speaking, in particular, asking questions and 80 % listening in this phase.  Test yourself or others next time, it may come as quite a shock how little time we spend listening to our customers.

Although it is the Phase where you do the least talking, it can also be considered the most important Phase of the sale.   It is at this stage that a number of critical things take place if you are handling the Customer Needs Analysis Phase effectively:

1. You gain an understanding of the customer’s needs, priorities, issues, perceptions, prejudices, fears, etc.
2. You come to have a deeper understanding of the customer’s buying motivators or intentions.
3. You build rapport and trust with the customer by listening effectively and demonstrating empathy towards their situation. Key is being able to see if from their point of view.
4. You are able to probe deeper into their situation using effective questioning techniques that help the customer to see a greater, tangible need for your product or service.
5. You establish what the consequences and opportunities are for the customer and how working with you will add value for them.

One of the fundamental aspects of the Sales Process is that customers value conclusions about their needs that they have come to themselves rather than conclusions that salespeople present to them.   It is through the effective use of questions that you are able to assist customers with self-discovery and understanding their needs for themselves.

Finally, incorporating a suite of different questions and pursuing them in such a way that you and the customer gain a clear understanding of what is a required legitimises you as a trusted partner.  This approach enables you and the customer to come to the realisation of whether they need to take up your solution or not.   Whilst it may sound absurd to not proceed with a sale, effective questioning enables you to determine who will be a suitable and viable client to work with and who will not. We need to press home to all sales people that not every sale is going to be a good sale and effective questioning helps you make that determination quickly so that you can get onto the customers you want in your portfolio.

As mentioned previously, everyone was born with the ability to ask questions and be curious. If this has waned in your sales team and business recently, may I suggest you have questioning skill sessions where you practice questioning as part of ongoing development. Come up with questions that work.  Look at how and why they work and share them around with everyone so we can all improve our questioning fitness.

Remember everybody lives by selling something.

Author: Sue Barrett, www.barrett.com.au

What’s happened to having a pleasant, hassle free customer experience in this country? We are hearing more and more war stories from customers.  Some go to buy something and are met with whinging, whiny staff or others return to a supplier (retailer or B2B) with a query, return, or problem to be resolved to be met by resistance, apathy, excuses, and, worst of all, customers being informed of their lack of understanding about how the company in question works.

I mean, do we really expect our customers to be fully aware of and understand the following:

• The reasons why we haven’t got our stationary supply yet and can’t process a gift voucher because someone forgot to put the order in and head office sent the wrong forms?
• Why we are frustrated, grumpy, or agitated from an earlier customer interaction?
• Why we haven’t taken leave for ages, are stressed out, and can’t cope with dealing with customers at the moment?
• Why we let our best people take leave during the busiest time?
• Our reasons for being in business in the first place? i.e. it’s only a hobby which somehow makes it less of a business
• The internal processes and procedures we need follow to fulfil and service a sale?
• Why we think head office ‘sucks’?
• Our business strategy and how we are having problems making it work?
• Our staff roster or staffing retention issues?
• Our ordering and stocking procedures?

I think you get the picture. The personal dramas on display by some sales and service people, and even business proprietors, would have you thinking they are doing you a favour or that you are there as a counsellor rather than a customer.  It makes being a customer very unpleasant indeed.   I’m all for empathy and understanding, however a number of the issues raised here are just not relevant to the customer and never should be.  We do not need to know about these as part of our customer experience.

While other areas such as returns policies should be made explicit in clear, simple language customers can understand before the sale is made, even if it means having it on display for people to read.  For instance, if you run out of exchange vouchers and can’t process them immediately you need to have an alternate strategy in place to deal with that.  Or if you can’t answer the query straight away and promise to follow up with a phone call then do it.  Leaving a customer hanging not knowing whether it is good news or bad and then having them to do all the leg work to follow up because of you forgot to call is not good enough.

Then there is the customer experience of being met with a surly attitude or a roll of the eyes in response to a query.  If it falls outside a standard procedure it just all seems too hard to deal with.

I am left asking, what has happened to customer service standards in this country?  And I am sure that this is a common question many people are asking. With so many buying choices, managing expectations and modelling proactive, professional customer service and sales activities in a polite, constructive, and helpful way can make  a huge difference to whether a customer returns or not.  We may have the best product or service but if we treat our customers in an offhand manner or take them for granted they are not likely to come back anytime soon, if at all.

A Few Facts about Customers

• Only 4% of customers ever complain directly to the supplier; some simply suffer in silence, while most simply go elsewhere.
• People who stop buying from or dealing with a particular business do so because:
• 1% die
• 3% move away
• 5% seek alternatives or develop other business interests
• 9% begin doing business with the competition
• 14% are dissatisfied with the product or service
• 68% are upset with the treatment they have received.
• It is 6 times more expensive to acquire a new customer than it is to retain an old one.
• Happy customers, or customers who have their complaints satisfactorily resolved, will tell 3 to 5 people.  One study revealed that 1 unhappy customer told 11 other people, who in turn told 5 other people.
• Between 54-70% of customers who complain will nevertheless continue to be customers if their complaint is resolved to their satisfaction.

Customers have more options than ever before and feel less loyalty as a result. I wonder why?  They want products and services faster, cheaper, and better from whoever will provide them. That means that as a customer service provider, the competitive advantage for our companies rests with all of us.

Why is this important to everyone?

It’s important because customer service does more than simply provide a means to drive sales. When companies have a commitment to customer service it raises the bar of competition. The only way companies can effectively accomplish this is through their employees. As the competitive bar goes up, the quality of employees must go up equally.

Having a better team is good for the individual employee, good for the company and very good for the customer. When a company is committed to customer service, its corporate culture will change to absorb this new dimension, first becoming an integral part, and then becoming the driving force causing amazing results take place.

Need more convincing? It is also well documented that organisations which provide superior customer and sales service can charge more, create greater profits, and achieve greater market share because customers will generally perceive more value and be willing to pay a premium for superior service.

Remember everybody lives by selling something.

Author: Sue Barrett, www.barrett.com.au

The virtue of Fidelity is often associated with personal relationships, in particular, marriage.  However, I would like to propose that we consciously extend this virtue to all aspects of our lives, including the functions of sales and service.

Why?

Because fulfilling our obligations and keeping our promises are critical to attracting and especially retaining customers.  The way in which we keep our promises and fulfil our obligations (or not) has a dramatic impact on our reputation, brand, and ongoing viability as a business.

First let’s take a look at what ‘fidelity’ actually means (source www.dictionary.com):

• Fidelity: 1494, from M.Fr. fidélité, from L. fidelitatem (nom. fidelitas) “faithfulness, adherence,” from fidelis “faithful,” from fides “faith” (see faith).
• Fidelity implies the unfailing fulfilment of one’s duties and obligations and strict adherence to vows or promises: fidelity to one’s spouse.
• strict observance of promises, duties, etc.
• loyalty: fidelity to one’s country.
• conjugal faithfulness.
• adherence to fact or detail.
• accuracy; exactness: The speech was transcribed with great fidelity.
• Audio, Video: the degree of accuracy with which sound or images are recorded or reproduced.

When we read these definitions of fidelity we can see that they are very relevant to ethical business practices and are fundamental to any healthy relationship. While some may argue that fidelity should be a given with any buying experience, unfortunately it is not for many people.  This is why I am raising fidelity in sales and service as a topic of conversation for 2010.

There are too many stories about ‘bad’ customer experiences to dismiss this as an irrelevant topic of conversation.  I believe more and more we will be held to account for actions, especially after the sale has been made. This brings the practice of fidelity into stark reality as a core virtue for any business.

Many of us have had experiences where we were promised one thing by a sales person, customer service person, or business proprietor and received something different.  For instance the sales or service person could say something like:

• ‘If you have any problems you can all on me and I will take good care of you no matter what happens’ (Reality – you have an issue and they do not want to know about you or your problem and make it very difficult for you to get any help)
• ‘If there are any issues with this piece of equipment bring it back and we will fix it at no charge’ (Reality – you have a problem and they blame you for the equipment problem without first uncovering what happened and then they complain about having to fix it, all the time telling you that other places would charge you for this service)

These examples and others like them leave people feeling let down, duped, and somewhat stupid for having trusted a person and taken them at their word.

But why is it this way?

Why do some people make these promises and then complain when they have to fulfil them?  Are they scared to lose a sale so they say anything to get your money?  Or do they have the best intentions of fulfilling their promises, however say ‘yes’ too much, setting unrealistic expectations, and overloading themselves?

I am sure there are many reasons why these issues occur, however whatever the reasons, the consequences of not practicing fidelity in business are dire.

If you want to kick off the New Year with a conversation about sales fidelity, you may like to ask the following questions:

• How do we abide by our agreements and honour our commitments?
• How do we fulfil our promises?
• How do we create and maintain trustworthy relationships?
• How do we work out problems directly?
• Do we walk our talk?

The answers you get may give you vital information about what you need to stop doing, start doing, and keep doing to ensure viable, healthy business practices and success in 2010 and beyond.

Remember everybody lives by selling something.

PS.  Don’t forget to complete the Barrett poll on The 12 Sales Trends of 2010. We want to know what you think will be the number one sales trend in 2010.

Author: Sue Barrett, Barrett