some people like to call it, is the hardest part of the
sales process. Here are 3 simple steps to deal with
resistance; or to put it another way - indifference.
Customers rarely object to your sales proposal they are
often only indifferent to it.
You usually encounter indifference because potential
customers:
a. are using a competitors product or service
b. they don't realise that it's possible to improve their
current circumstances
c. they don't see the importance of improving their current
circumstances
1. Acknowledge the customers point of view. - Say something
like - "I appreciate that you're happy with your current
supplier," or "I understand that you're not experiencing any
problems at present."
2. Request permission to ask a few questions. - Say - "I
wonder if I might ask you a few brief questions about how
you currently organise your supplies. We've worked with
businesses similar to your own and there may be things we've
learned that would be of value to you. Would that be OK?"
3. Ask questions. - Once you've received permission to ask
questions you want to explore the customers' circumstances
for opportunities and hopefully, establish a need. It's
important to ask questions that relate to the benefits of
your product or service, however, don't make it too obvious.
It's important that the customer believes that you have a
genuine interest in his or her business. To give you some
examples - If I was selling a sales or customer service
course to an indifferent customer I might ask questions such
as:
"How do you currently find new customers?"
"How many customers do you lose per month?"
"How much does it cost you to find a new customer?"
When you start to receive some answers from the customer you
then want to establish what effect it has on the business or
on the customer personally. You would ask questions such as:
"How do you feel about that situation?"
"How does that affect your productivity?"
"What impact does that have on your business?"
What you're attempting to do his plant some thoughts in the
customers mind and hopefully establish a need. To establish
if a need exists, ask questions such as:
"Would it be important to do something about that?"
"Is that a problem you'd be interested in solving?"
"Would you like to find a solution to that?"
If the customer says yes then you can follow up with a
benefit statement about your product or service. If they say
no, then at least you've created an awareness of condition
that might be important one day - and one that you can deal
with.
As I've said before, handling resistance is the hardest part
of the sales process however that's why sales people have
jobs. If every potential customer beat a path to your door
than there wouldn't be a need for sales people. As long as
you realise that you can deal with resistance in a
professional manner and although you won't win every time,
you
will have more successes.
So, go ahead, give these three point a try and I wish you
every success.
"You can tell whether a man is clever by his answers. You
can tell whether a man is wise by his questions." - Naguib
Mahfouz - Nobel Prize Winner
Alan Fairweather - The Motivation Doctor - is a professional
speaker, author and business development expert.
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