Whether you are selling an idea to your manager or a product or service to your prospective client,some common objections are likely to be raised. You will need to deal with these or risk losing the initiative. There are about 7-8 common, typical categories of objections but here are the top three…
1. “Yes we do need this, but not sure if you are the right person/company”
2- “Your price is higher than the other two”
3. “Have you done this before? Will you be able to support us?”
While the objections may vary from situation to situation, it is my experience that 80% of the time, you will have to handle these three objections, and in that general 1-2-3 sequence. This is because in order to be persuaded, folks generally have to first like you and be comfortable with you (the person, the organization, the relationship), then they need to understand the value proposition (price, other goodies and freebies) and finally they want reassurance that you have done this before.
Knowing how important it is to address these three objections is the starting point. Then you ensure you provide specific information in order to pre-empt these objections. Pre-empting objections in many cases satisfies the other party that you understand their concerns. It is worth noting that sometimes the objection may not be raised by the client, but that does not mean it is not there anyway. A good strategy is to first suggest the question yourself like “you might ask who our other clients are…” then answer.
Most proposals are simply a tabulation and listing of products and services, pricing and company information, in other words a printed version of the website with the client organization logo pasted on the front page. That is absolutely not impressive. Is it any wonder then that the same sorts of objections crop up again and again? I like to create the analogy between these top 3 objections and Syndrome X (consisting of the top 3 diseases: diabetes, high cholesterol and high blood pressure). All of them are inter-connected. Fix the core issue and the various problems disappear…
Notice how Objection # 2 (price) and Objection # 3 (track record) are basically derivatives of Objection # 1 (the company) .
Once you know how to deal with Objection # 1, the issue of higher price and reassurance seems to fade away. Objection # 1 needs to be addressed with a unique value proposition. This is about emphasizing what you can do for the client that no one else can do, how you understand and can address their core need better than anyone else can. People generally harp about price because they do not really comprehend the value you offer.
It takes time, practice and experience to figure out your unique value proposition. You must know what it is and how it can make the price comparison seem irrelevant.
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