However, there are a few time-proven methods that sales reps can use to overcome this objection. Here are a few of them:

1. Stop the objection from coming up in the first place. If the sales rep asks the right questions, shows passion, appeals to the client’s emotional hot buttons, demonstrates product knowledge and creates excitement, a lack of money will not be a deal killer. The funds will be found. Seldom is it that money stands in the way of people who really want to do something.
2. Frame the price in relative terms. This begins by researching the market and seeing what the competition is charging. If the price your competitors charge is higher, contrast your price. If their cost is lower, emphasize the unique selling proposition of your product/service and quote a higher price than your product/service sells for – then immediately let your client know that they can purchase it for a reduced price. This approach will sound like a bargain…and who can resist a bargain?
3. Drive home the cost of not buying your product/service. This means educating your client on the benefits of your product/service, and the rewards that they will reap by buying now. This begins with the sales rep having detailed product knowledge, then illustrating the savings of time and/or money that your product/service can offer your client.
4. Know your client’s deepest concerns, and explain how your product/service will solve them. Become familiar with the business and industry your client is in. What keeps them up at night? How can they gain a competitive edge? How can your offer make their life easier? Once you have answered these questions, it is then only a matter of presenting your offer as a way of solving your client’s problems and thus making their life easier if they accept your offer.
5. Remove the price from the conversation and qualify them again – “Let’s forget about the money for a second – do you see your company benefiting from this product?”

Keep these points in mind, and remember that it is all about the client – not you! If these ideas are presented correctly, many price objections will be overcome.

5 Ways to Handle Price Objection is a post from: The Science and Art of Selling by Alen Mayer

Stop selling and start closing.

Right here I want to make a distinction: a big one. There’s a distinct difference between asking for the order and trying to take it. The salesperson that asks for orders says something like this, “Do you want to buy my product?”

In doing so the sales professional does two things wrong. First of all, it invites a negative answer, and makes it easy for the prospect to say “No.” Secondly, a definite “No” to a question of this kind can end the meeting. A decision has been passed; you’ll have a real job trying to get your listener to reverse it.

Here is the right way to try for the order. When you feel that the time is ripe, act just as if your prospect had verbally said, “Yes”. Start discussing terms, details of delivery, or something that comes after the order is placed.

There are so many closing techniques, and I will give you here on my blog an example or two, like Alternative Choice Close or Assumptive Close, but more important message I am trying to send here is this one: Never forget to ask your customers for the order. Never.

As an illustration, you’re selling a new organic breakfast cereal to a grocer. You’ve made your talk; you feel that the grocer is ready to buy. Instead of asking the grocer to purchase, you take it for granted that the grocer is going to and swing right into the details of taking the order just as if the grocer had verbally said “Yes.” You’re making it hard to say “No.”

In the full realization that a fifty boxes order would be a large one for the one you’re talking to, you say, “You’ll want at least a hundred boxes, won’t you?” Now if he is ready to buy, he’ll come right back with “No, I will only use forty boxes at a time.” If he’s undecided: half for and half against – your suggestion as to the quantity – the mention of one hundred turns his mind from the question of whether of buying or not to the amount the grocer will purchase.

Do you see what that method of procedure does? It gracefully and easily passes the decision point, and moves you right down to actually taking the order.

On the other hand, suppose your judgment was wrong; suppose your prospect is not ready to purchase. If you had come right out and asked for a definite decision you would have received a “No” and that would have pretty near ended the matter. But a “No” to the quantity question does not mean an adverse decision to the entire proposition. It leaves you free to pick up your selling argument again and reinforce your statements until your prospect is ready to buy.

The Last Step – Closing The Sale is a post from: The Science and Art of Selling by Alen Mayer

You might account for that by saying that this type of salesperson does not “feel” when the prospect is ready. But that is not a fact. They do feel it, but they figure something like this,

“I’ve got them coming now, but if I try to get an order they may say no. I’ll just keep on selling and make the thing a little surer.”

And in making it a little surer they lose out altogether.

Most of us hesitate to face a crisis. We are afraid of an adverse decision. That is largely why some people oversell their prospects. But no matter how diffident you feel about it, and no matter how great your hesitation, the secret of success lies in driving in and bearing down for the order just the second you feel the time is ripe.

And if you follow the rules, you’ll get the order.

Here they are:

1. Bring your prospect to the buying point.
2. The minute you feel the prospect is ready try to take the order.
3. Don’t directly ask the prospect to buy. Without giving offense, take it for granted the prospect is purchasing and start settling up the details just as if they had verbally said “Yes.”
4. If they are not ready to buy, drop your purchase order form and start selling them again.

And remember, no matter how you interest your prospect in your approach – no matter how convincing your presentation – no matter how strong his desire for your proposition, all the work that has gone before is wasted, and absolutely lost if you fail actually to get the order.

Someone said once, “Ask, or the answer is always no”. If you don’t ask for the order, rarely you will receive the business and commission you desire.

The Mistake of Overselling is a post from: The Science and Art of Selling by Alen Mayer

Selling is therefore a process in which you need to follow certain steps, one at a time, to reach your final goal – the sale itself. Your sales process will also depend on your efforts invested in research and understanding your customer base, together with your energy and enthusiasm about your product.

Sometimes you can skip some steps if the customer is giving you signals to move further, faster. Otherwise, it solely depends on you and your readiness to be prepared before contacting the prospect.

If we simplify the whole sales process we can agree that there are four major steps in sales:

1. opening/qualifying
2. information gathering
3. presentation of your proposal, and
4. closing.

Opening phase is usually a result of a cold call to someone who has not yet heard of you or thought about working with you.

Information gathering is a second step when sales person is asking customers what they do, how they do it, and why they do it that way. Then he/she ask how his company can help them do it better. Usually second step means getting the meeting or presentation opportunity.

Proposal is next step when sales person is giving the presentation based on the gathered information, and giving the recommendation or meaningful solution to solve their pains, issues, or needs.

When customer decides to buy that is a fourth step in sales process and the only step that actually counts – closing the deal. This means they see the value in your solution and you assisted to buyer to make a decision based on information you provided.

When you don’t close the deal you did not completed your process. It is very similar to playing baseball when you get to the third base but never reach home and score; in sales this means you have gone through three steps but on the end you didn’t engaged buyer enough to see the value in your solution.

You didn’t address their needs that will trigger a buy to happen (Trigger Events, anyone?). You have wasted your time and your customer’s time, and there is hardly any chance of getting back to that customer to try to sell again.

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The Four Major Steps in Sales is a post from: The Science and Art of Selling by Alen Mayer

Closing should not be a separate event from the rest of your presentation – it should be integrated into the proposal and it should flow naturally and easily. But, just like the rest of the process, closing should be planned. There are many closing techniques and you need to master them and keep them stored away for future use. You can adopt any one of these closing techniques at any time – select the one most suitable for your presentation. The secret of successful closing is not in the technique that you will use, but to know when to close.

The Trial Close asks for an opinion and not a decision. This way the customer can feel that he has not been coerced into anything – you’re inviting him into the conversation and encouraging him to share his opinion. This is not a normal closing technique, but more like a test to see if your customer is ready to buy.  Best time to use it is after you handled the objection successfully. Ask questions and close your mouth – don’t say anything else. Wait for response.

Some examples:

• “So the date you would be looking at starting our training would be September 6th?”
• “How do you feel about this product? Does it make sense to you?”
• “What do you think of (insert your benefit here)?”
• “How does that sound so far?“
• “Did I miss anything?”
• “What do you see as a next step?”
• “Is now a good time to send you the paperwork?”
• “When should we send out our technician?”
• “Do you like it?”
• “Could you see yourself using it?”
• “Let’s put aside the price – would this be the right product for you?”
  

The Trial Close tells you when to ask for the decision. If your customer makes the decision on a minor point, he will be able to make the final decision easier (the sale). Very often after asking the trial question, I am using 3F technique – Feel, Felt, Found – I understand how you feel, other felt the same way, and here is the solution we found…

(Shameless Self-Promotion: More closing techniques presented in a unique and refreshing way you can find in my book “Selling Is Better Than Sex.” Read more here: www.sellingisbetter.com)

Can you name the questions you are using ?

Closing Technique #1: The Trial Close is a post from: The Science and Art of Selling by Alen Mayer

The beauty of closing the deal in sales is that this actually does resolve problems. Sadly, when we refer to “closing the deal” in sex, this usually just creates more problems. If the final agreement did not end simultaneously, there’s a massive issue. If your pitch was anything less than perfect and sustained, then there’s a problem!

Every time you manage to close a sales deal, you feel great about having discovered the best solution and having resolved the client’s problem. You have that guaranteed satisfaction after every close.

Part of your sales job is to continually reassure your customer that she is making the right decision by purchasing. If you leave her hanging long enough, there will be time for doubt to creep in. Don’t allow that to happen. You are her support during the dealings and discussions and you need to remind her of that by being her ongoing source of reassurance. A failure to close the deal comes from an inadequate performance in other areas. If you let your game slip at any point in the sales process, you have potentially endangered the success of the deal.

When closing the deal, fulfilling your client’s needs (and helping them get a useful product) actually fulfils your needs as well. If the deal is heading for closure then both parties will walk away fulfilled and satisfied -simultaneously, every time! It doesn’t get better than that!

Helping your customers can actually be a very fulfilling prospect of its own. It’s an important role that you play in the client’s life as she depends on you for your level of expertise on the subject. The beauty of sales is that once you find a suitable presentation you can use that same pitch each time, simply adapted to the current client’s needs. And with such a successful pitch, you can easily close more than one customer in one day – and not feel guilty. You can close a different customer every day and not feel concerned about a tarnished reputation. Again, with sales, it all boils down to “the more the merrier”.

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If you are interested to learn more about the art of closing, get my new book “Selling Is Better Than Sex” – www.SellingIsBetter.com

Sealed With a Kiss (The Art of Closing) is a post from: The Science and Art of Selling by Alen Mayer

Learning multiplies with fun, Alen’s book proves it. It is simply unputdownable and highly recommended! Book is available at Amazon.”

Reviewed by Ashraf Chaudhry
Sales Trainer & Author of The Craft of Selling “YOURSELF”

Book Review by Ashraf Chaudhry: Selling Is Better Than Sex is a post from: The Science and Art of Selling by Alen Mayer

The Decision to buy takes place in the prospect’s heart and mind. But it is up to the salesperson to translate that Decision into actually Placing the Order. It is entirely possible that a prospect can make a decision to buy and then reverse his decision and walk away without placing an order. This is why it is imperative for you to get the prospect to state his intent to purchase. After that, he is unlikely to change his mind and walk away without the order.

There is a law of human nature referred to as the “continuity of action”. The continuity of action is more powerful in leading to new acts than any other process. This means that if you want your prospect to do a certain thing, the best way is to start him doing something. Get him involved in some sort of action, and then it’s easy for him to switch to another action; such as signing an order.

The Art of Closing – Part Two is a post from: The Science and Art of Selling by Alen Mayer

Closing is so often regarded as the most difficult part of the selling process.  But this should never be the case! Getting the order from a prospect whose interest and desire have been secured and whose objections have been effectively eliminated should simply be the next logical step in the process.

By the closing stage, the prospect has already been convinced that he NEEDS the products; he has the means to pay for them; he WANTS them and he feels assured that they will satisfy his needs. Thereafter, it would seem that getting the order is the natural course of action to take and is really a mere formality.

Perhaps closing is regarded as being difficult because of a salesperson’s inability to secure a “yes” in the final stage of his presentation. However, if the salesperson has been successful in his pitch then the prospect should be primed to buy. So if the prospect says “no” even after his objections have been properly handled something new must have come up that has balked his desire; or the salesperson has failed to perform some final service for the prospect that has prevented completion of the sale. It’s up to you to discover what may have gone wrong and then jump into action in order to secure the order.

Of course, it is difficult to close a prospect whose objections have not been efficiently and effectively dealt with.  It’s even harder to get an order from a prospect whose desire for the products hasn’t been aroused. The sale is nearly impossible to secure if the prospect has shown no interest either. If any of the steps of the selling process have been handled inefficiently then closing the deal becomes all the more difficult.

Next week: The First Step of the Closing Stage

The Art of Closing – Part One is a post from: The Science and Art of Selling by Alen Mayer