The power of pre-empting sales objections
Pre-empting someone's behaviour means needing to first see the scene in front of them, through their eyes.
If you are going to pre-empt objections that are likely to be thrown at you during a buying process, you need to take time to turn 180 degrees in order to look at the potential purchase, through the eyes of the buyer.
Whilst imagining the buyer's thought process, you need to imagine the answers in their mind to questions they will undoubtedly pose themselves such as;
Will this (solution) really fix my problem?
Could I fix it myself?
Am I best going with a bigger/cheaper/more established supplier?
Can i get this (solution) cheaper?
Shall I wait to get the solution?
etc
Naturally, experience and miles on the clock help established business development people gain clarity as to how others are likely to be thinking/behave during each sales process.....but it will never be a perfect science.
For the simple reason, that we are individuals and whilst there are certainly common traits with most buyers when they are purchasing for example, insurance, legal services, a new piece of software etc, the actual buyer themselves (and the influencers around them) could easily have other priorities in their mind, that others do not.
This is where information and insight gathering, as well as crucially listening to what each specific buyer wants, become so crucial.
This will produce you the ultimate sales tool: Pre-empting sales objections, that are personalised to the buyer...now you're cooking!
So what is the power in being able to pre-empt sales objections and ideally, those personalised to the buyer?
The power lies in maintaining control in the appeal of your product/service.
A sales objection is a perfectly formed thought and communicated negative, outlining a tangible reason why a buyer might not purchase from you.
You can objection handle it of course but you can never remove it from the discussion - it happened.
We also must remember that not all objections in facts are aired to the person selling but it doesn't mean they don't exist.
Imagine if you applied the process noted above so thoroughly, that whilst potential objections were forming in the buyer's mind, you were already outlining in a clear, articulate manner why they needn't be concerned about them because your business or product/service solution is perfectly equipped to provide them with the optimum outcome - the methodology of such a selling style is a whole new discussion but can be enhanced considerably by selling through 'analogy' and it's in fact, really simple....
...For example: a Partner for a mid-tier accountancy practice knows that many of her prospect's jis one of those companies, which simply feel safer appointing one of the 'Big 4 accountants'. So selling through analogy would be something like this:
''The vast majority of the clients we work with, prior to meeting us, understandably had a preference to have their accountancy requirements with one of the 'Big 4'.
One assumes it's the presumption of receiving the highest expertise and advice. The situation in fact is somewhat different in reality, with large management teams meaning access to the Partners with the real expertise and experience, is almost impossible due to the layers of support management beneath them.
In fact we employ a number of Partners previously who have worked within the 'Big 4' but we operate a much flatter structure, meaning our clients get to work directly with them and thus the level of expertise and insight that their businesses deserve and all at substantially lower cost too.''
Franklin Wall Solutions help with these and numerous other sales and marketing challenges you may be facing. We will create the perfect pitch for you to win business BEFORE your potential new customer tells you why they aren't interested!
If you get chance, send us an email HERE with your questions as to how we would support you or call us anytime on 0161 670 4352 and we'd be delighted to talk through how we help countless business get heard and stand out from the crowd.
