Handling Objections, Part Two!
We started talking about objections the last time we were together. Now we will begin looking at different types of objections, and how to overcome them.
The stall objection is very simply a customer saying something like, "I'll be back" or "I need to think it over." It's important for you to remember that many times, a stall is only a cover for a specific objection. If the customer really does need to "think it over," then there is probably something specific that they are objecting to. It becomes impetrative for you to determine what their specific objection is and go about overcoming it.
A specific objection is a prospect telling you a certain thing that they are concerned with such as, "I'm not sure about the length of the warranty" or, "The shape of the diamond is not quite what I was looking for." You must be careful, though, because these could also be stall objections. It is up to you to determine if the objection is specific or a stall.
If you determine that the objection is a specific one, you can usually track it back to a poor needs assessment. A salesperson certainly should have found out and known exactly which shape of diamond that their customer was interested in. For that matter, the salesperson should've known the shape, the size, the color and everything else. If the needs assessment had been done correctly, then the objection about shape would never come up.
Money is always going to be a common objection. While it sounds like a specific one, it's really not. People believe the price of everything is too high until value has been established. It is the job of a salesperson to establish the value in the needs assessment. If money really was their primary objection, then they never would've entered the store in the first place.
If you've established value and the price is still too high for your prospect, then the objection becomes a specific one regarding their budget. The strategies for handling a budget objection are unique and we will begin with that next time.
Brad Huisken - President, IAS Training
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