Month: July 2020

In a previous post, we outlined a process for resolving sales objections. It’s a way of adding some stability, scalability, and repeatability to the sales process. In other words, all members of your sales team, from the freshman sales rep to the seasoned saleswoman, now have a way of producing repeatable results when resolving common sales objections.

What’s missing here is the sales rep’s ability to run that process and determine what kind of sales objection they are facing. Now I’m sure every salesperson can determine the kind of objection they are facing based on the content of the objection. For example, if the objection deals with the product, service, the relationship, or the reputation of the sales rep.

See Common Sales Objections From the Prospect’s Perspective

But let’s step back and see the situation from the customer or prospect’s position. Are they bringing up the objection because they have a real problem to resolve, or are they trying to get rid of the sales rep? Are they bringing up issues because they are misinformed? Or do they have an underlying bias for a competing product?

Using the process outlined in the previous post, your sales reps will have an opportunity to determine the type of common sales objections they are facing allowing them to respond accordingly.

Give your sales team an unfair advantage. Download the free manual, Seven Steps to Resolving Objections here.

Throughout my career in sales, I have heard many sales objections. And in my time as a sales trainer and in training trainers, I understand the need for salespeople to simplify and streamline the process as much as possible. Fortunately, I’ve come to notice that sales objections, from the customer’s perspective, fall into 6 categories. The are:

1. Genuine
2. Stalls and Put-Offs
3. Misconceptions
4. Biases, Prejudices, and Skepticism
5. Unsolvable
6. Trivial

So your salespeople don’t need to remember the big book of 100 common sales objections. They only need to isolate and address the 6 types detailed below.

6 Types of  Common Sales Objections

1. Genuine Sales Objections

The first type of common sales objection is the genuine one. A real sales objection is a legitimate concern that your prospect has and you need to address the problem before you can move the sales process forward. This can be anything from “Your service costs $500K and we only have $400K allocated in our budget” to “Your system requires a raised floor that supports 500 pounds per square foot and ours isn’t rated that high”.  A genuine objection indicates interest in your product and is your opportunity to shine.  Solve the problem and you will close the business.

2. Stalls and Put-Offs

A prospect or client will use this type of sales objection if they feel events are moving too fast for them and they need to use a delaying tactic. They need to slow down and get control of the sales process. Prospects who don’t have the authority to buy and are looking for a way to save face will also use this kind of objection and stall for time while they run the options by their management. Lastly, if you’re facing put-offs early in the sales process, your prospect considers you an annoyance and they don’t want to talk. Any way you look at it, they’re purposely stretching out the process to run down the clock.

3. Misconceptions

With this type of objection, your prospect is hesitant to move forward because of something they heard or saw. This type of objection has more emotion in it than fact.  It can be the result of your competition running a campaign of fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) against your product or company. Or it can be something as honest as the prospect having outdated information. In these instances, your client or prospect is going to need educating. Use the process to get them to define, defend, and explain their objection and then correct the misinformation.

4. Biases, Prejudices, and Skepticism

In this sales objection, your prospect doesn’t think you or your solution will solve their problem. This means you missed something during your investigative analysis and their trust is with someone or something else. Go back and ask more questions to adequately diagnose the challenges they are facing. In doing so, you’ll improve your integrity and trust.

5. Unsolvable

With these kinds of sales objections, you’re facing challenges you can’t resolve within a reasonable time and you have no control. For example, let’s say you’re meeting with a client to sell them capital equipment, like a sizable phone system. They say, “Wow, this thing looks good. Unfortunately, we bought a similar system from Acme Communications about 2 months ago and we use a 3-year depreciation model”. Under these conditions, your prospect won’t be in the market for your kind of system for at least 2 years. Perform your discovery and identify these types of situations at the beginning of your sales cycle. You’ll save yourself time by not investing your resources and energy into designing solutions they can’t use.

6. Trivial

These sales objections don’t move the sale forward, but they will eat up a lot of your time. You’ll typically find these types of objections when performing your sales presentation to a group of stakeholders. In fact, if your offer involves a lengthy sales cycle and requires input from several stakeholders, you will encounter these. Trivial objections have no bearing on the business reasons for moving the sale forward. But they do make some of the lower level stakeholders feel like they are a part of the process. Don’t get caught up in resolving objections that add no value to your business case. With a little tact and diplomacy, you can gracefully bypass these objections. Simply state, “You raise a valid point and we’ll cover that in a moment”.  Then you let the politics of the group determine just how relevant the objection really is.

In your next sales call postmortem meeting, ask your team how many sales objections they received and how they would classify them.  In time, they will get better at identifying which objections they need to address immediately, which ones they can put off, and which ones they can completely ignore.

And streamlining your process like that should improve your sales KPIs considerably!

Good Selling!

Around 18 months ago, we published an article on how to purchase sales training. There, we described the three factors you should take into consideration when buying sales training: content, process, and methodology. I began thinking about all this in early 2000 when I met a sharp HR executive who reminded me she bought millions in training each year — and promptly told me how to sell it.

Over the last year and a half, we’ve had good response to this article, so I wanted to update it a little bit. We’ll start in the same place we started the last version: content.

How To Buy Sales Training: The Role And Value Of Content

When it comes to the intersection of sales training and content, you’ve usually got two big buckets of companies; they reside on opposite ends of the spectrum.

In one case, you’ve got training companies that basically act as a big content house. They specialize in the latest trends and thought leadership around sales execution, and they expect you to implement.

The other case is someone with a PowerPoint full of opinions and broad generalizations about sales. Sure, they may have some experience in sales management. But if there is no formal training, organizational development, or understanding of adult learning and behavioral change, then you aren’t going to see the result you are paying for.

There are shops that fall between these two extremes, but these two are most of what you’ll encounter in the market.

In any business, the bedrock of a good strategy lies in asking strong, intelligent questions. If you encounter either of these buckets when buying sales training, start with questions focused on the following areas:

• Customization. Is the content customized to your sales team’s needs and learning styles? Or is it a one-size-fits-all deal?
• Design. Is the content put together by someone with an instructional design background?
• Tested. Is the content tested prior to being used on your team? Or are your people guinea pigs?
• Accessories. Are there learning aids and manuals to accompany the training?

This is how you approach the content phase of buying sales training. It’s a “trust but verify” tactic.

The Process Side Of Buying Sales Training

There are two main decision points around process when evaluating different training options.

The first is a simple, yet profound question: is this training company trying to teach you how they sell, or how to sell? Sounds the same, but it’s not. Their approach might not work for your team. But teaching a team how to sell — well, that works for all teams.

Are they molding training to your team, or your team to their training? There is an important difference.

Second, you need to know the difference between whether the person you are bringing in is going to educate your team (teach something new), or whether you’re bringing in someone to train your team (enhance and take action). These two processes are vastly different and knowing this is crucial to your team.

Education is something different. Training is doing something different.

What questions can you ask to evaluate process better?

• How many steps is their sales process?
• How many steps to the actual close?
• Is there a separate process for negotiations or presenting?
• Can your trainer and the process withstand other industries and unique situations — or is it the same every time?

Now we have a roadmap on how to think about content and process. Let’s knock out methodology and iron out the last wrinkle.

Evaluating Methodology When You Buy Sales Training

The methodology is how the trainer is going to deliver the content to the participants. A good trainer should create a positive change (the buzzword is “delta”) in your team that ultimately leads to better results. There are two tiers to this: delivery and assessment.

There are more than 15 ways to change behavior. What will they use?

In terms of delivery, you need to understand the basics. For example: how will the trainer deliver the content? Will they be educating your team, or actually trying to create some change and drive results for your team?

This all needs to begin from a place of assessment or profiles. How can a sales trainer come in and solve the challenges of your team if they don’t know where to start? That’s why you need to assess any team you train.So when you evaluate trainers, ask them this question upfront. How are you going to assess my team? If they say “We come in and work with them,” get off the phone. That probably means their approach is cookie-cutter.

Once you have an answer on assessment, you need to know more about customization. You’re about to buy a sales training, right? So you have some idea (or a very good idea) of how this trainer will assess your team. Now you need to know: once the assessment is done, how are you going to customize the content to my team’s challenges? Are learning styles being taken into account?

The New Bucket: Adaptability

Ask yourself this. Why are some trainers on the scene for maybe 1-2 years and work with sales teams once or twice and that’s it? And then, why are there some trainers who work with a given company for 15+ years?

The answer is adaptability. Good sales training companies can adapt. They know the team (their client) has grown and regressed since the last training in different ways. They assess, they customize, they have a process that tailors content, and they deliver a new training to meet the sales reps where they’re at now. The best sales training companies constantly adapt and meet clients in the present; the worst sales trainers are one-stop shops with cookie-cutter solutions. The latter type usually flames out.

When evaluating a sales training option, how do you distinguish between the two types of trainers? Consider these questions:

• Do they offer other training curriculum or modules?
• Are there programs like negotiations and presentations outside of the standard sales training?
• Do they offer train the trainer or coaching modules?
• Do they have sales management programs?
• Usually the trainers who offer more, or are willing to change/shift with what you tell them, are going to be the adaptable ones.

When You’re Buying Sales Training, Consider How You Got Sold

This is a little bit meta, but it’s important to consider: how did this company sell you on being a client? The process they worked with you often says a lot about how they will train your team. For example:

• How did they resolve objections?
• Sales guys that can’t resolve objections usually can’t train others very well either.
• Are they the cheapest option?
• (Ask yourself: do you really want your team in the hands of the cheapest option on the market?
• Do they offer big ‘price cuts’ or ‘buy now : $199 a session’-type discounts?
• Simply put, guys who do this are usually chasing leads and not really interested in the outcome after they work with your team.)
• Did they educate you in the sales process or are they pushing a product?
• In a way, we all push product, but you can push with value or you can just push. The former is who you want for sales training.
• How did they present their information?
• Context? Transparency? Or buzzwords and BS?
• How did they communicated with you?

This is crucial because it speaks to both levels of adaptability — they meet you where you’re at — and levels of respect, and both of those show up in the training process as well).

Essentially, are they selling in a way that you want your salespeople to sell?

So What’s The Bottom Line On Buying Sales Training?

The four buckets above — content, process, methodology, and adaptability — are the major buckets you need use when evaluating vendors. Hopefully these guiding questions are helpful for you. Definitely feel free to reach out if you’re wondering how best to evaluate some of the market options.

I will reiterate, absolutely do not make your selection based on price in this space. Even if it’s low cost, bad sales training is always a waste of money. Maybe your boss gave you a target or a range to spend on sales training, and that’s understandable. You need to stay within reason there. But competing on price works in some industries, although usually not with person-to-person tactics and strategy sessions like a sales training. There, you need the best, and the best usually costs a little bit more.

Buying sales training and empowering your team is a big decision. But if you think through the steps above, you will find the right option for you, your team, and your organization.

In one of our sales training sessions, a participant asked me for ideas on how to avoid some of the objections she was getting from her prospects. Now, in these situations, my experience is if one person asks a question, then there are at least 5 other people with the same question simmering just below the surface.  And for a hot topic like this, the majority of salespeople want some way to resolve their prospects’ sales objections that not only makes them look good and helps them get to close deals faster.

Before we jump into how to resolve sales objections,  realize that the majority of salespeople actively avoid encountering objections, as if an objection was the equivalent to saying “your product or service isn’t good enough” or “you did something wrong in the sales process.”

What your salespeople must first realize is that sales objections are a natural part of the sales negotiation process. Real sales objections, ironically, signify a prospect’s interest in your offer. They are not something that must be overcome. They are problems that must be resolved. Once your salespeople realize this fact, they put themselves in a better position to address their customer’s concerns.

So, the first task for your salespeople is to determine if the objection is really a sales objection and not merely a tactic to push them  out the door.  To do this, your people must ask their prospect if their concern is legitimate, but they have to do it in a way that doesn’t put the prospect or customer on the defensive.

Enhance your salespeople’s effectiveness with the full process. Download the guide, Seven Steps to Resolving Sales Objections here.

Keep this in mind as we briefly review the step by step process to resolve sales objections

Process to Resolve Sales Objections

1. Bridge their statement and acknowledge their concerns. This gives you rapport with the prospect instead of preparing your relationship for a confrontation.
2. Ask a question for clarification. You never know what a prospect means when they voice an objection. Instead of guessing or assuming you know what they’re talking about, ask them to define, defend, and explain their concern..
3. Verify that this is their primary concern. Give them the option to identify other areas that may be troubling them. An easy way to do this is by asking, “In addition to this, is there anything else?”
4. Test their state with a trial close. If they are truly interested in your offer and this is a legitimate concern, they’ll respond in the positive. However, if this is a smoke screen or a quick response to get rid of you, they’ll respond in the negative.
5. For those that hesitate or respond in the negative, ask them what else is holding them back. Simply state the obvious and inquire: “Bob, there appears to be something else holding you back. Do you mind if I ask what that is?”
6. When they tell you what else is bothering them about your offering, contrast their two concerns and ask the prospect which one is more important.
7. Lastly, use questions to perform a trial close and determine if resolving the new condition allows the sale to move forward.

Supplement the Process of Resolving Sales Objections With These Ideas

Here are some supplemental tips for your salespeople when they’re resolving sales objections:

1. Avoid being confrontational or argumentative. As the salesperson, you are there to negotiate. Find points of agreement.
2. Don’t tell your prospect that they are wrong. Telling your prospect or customer that they are wrong sets the stage for a confrontation. Instead, acknowledge where they are mentally and lead them to where you want them to go. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. You don’t want to take those opinions away. However, you do want to offer them alternatives and let them choose the better option..
3. Your presentation matters. If all you had to do was present facts, you could give your prospect the user manual or the brochure.  The facts you use to counter an objection need the appropriate presentation suited for the audience.  Deliver your evidence using an appropriate amount of dramatic flair to make your point.  Anytime you can use your presentation skills to make unfamiliar concepts easily understood, do it and you’ll effectively deal with most of the objections you’ll encounter.

Remember, when you encounter a real sales objection, it’s an indication that your prospect or client is genuinely interested in your proposed solution. Take some time to investigate the objection and use the opportunity to move the sales forward.

Good Selling!