Most buyers have sales resistance. While we do like to purchase things, the majority doesn’t like to be sold. Hence when we detect salespeople presenting their wares, we push back. Often that opposition takes the form of objections.
Handling Objections
As a professional, you may have studied how to respond to common objections. Perhaps you’ve practiced and rehearsed typical replies. Chances are, however, that a couple objections land particularly hard and give you pause for thought. They pierce through your armor and make you hesitant or stumble in your delivery. Consequently, buyers sense that uncertainty which gives them added reason to back away. A downward spiral ensues which eventually leads to no sale.
Claudette disliked pushy, aggressive sellers. So when she became involved in direct sales, she vowed that she would be different. Like many salespeople, she projected her style of making a buying decision onto prospects. In her case, she shied away from discussing money, doing follow-ups, and moving the process along.
Every objection made Claudette think that she had become the very individual she disliked. She assumed that potential clients had the same resistance and intolerance as she did. These limiting ideas impeded her results.
Knowing Your Style
Because her drive to succeed was strong, Claudette was open to examining her behavior and getting help. The first step was looking squarely at the beliefs she held about the seller-buyer interaction. She saw that she was projecting her style onto every potential customer. She came to realize that the majority of people operate from different premises and that raising an objection was not the same as saying “no.” In fact, it was a request for more information, for her to go deeper into the value.
Gaining Confidence
Confronting her specific objections as a buyer helped her change her way of being a sales professional. Claudette gained confidence in working with prospects and welcomed their inquiries. She no longer thought of their questions as a sign to stop. Rather she could embrace them as an invitation to proceed on their terms, whether they needed more information, social proof, or assurance of her friendly service. Building rapport and staying in rapport by viewing the sale through the buyer’s lens allowed her to achieve the financial success she desired.
About Dr. Nancy Zare
A retired professor and psychologist, Dr. Nancy Zare originated the AlikeAbility™ System to teach service-based sales professionals how to read buying styles and close more sales. She offers a complimentary video, “If the Shoe Fits” that helps you identify your prospect’s buying style from the shoes they wear. Contact her at nancy@RapportBuilderz.com to receive your copy.
