Work Starts From The 1st Objection

When a man asks a woman to dance in a restaurant, she often refuses. But does the man give up and go home? or does he try again? Do you? If a toilet seat is occupied, do you accept the situation and turn away? You leave your needs undone? Or do it in to your pants? Or do you wait until toilet is vacated and the route is clear?

How do you react as a seller to your customer´s first objection? At least do not buy explanations!

The selling starts from the first objection. When a customer presents an objection he, in fact, wants further information about the product or service by presenting skeptical thoughts or questions. He is waking for selling. You must recognize this signal and moment.

You must be awake too. As a seller, this moment is the awaited signal and a sign of the fact that now selling (harvesting) starts and everything is just beginning. The more you learn to recognize this moment and the more often you achieve a deal from it, the more pleasure objections bring. You get trained to listen to them ― to separate the essential matters and contexts. You get to use your mental capital, your skills, which produce results for you.

The actual selling is closing the deals. Realise this fact. When you realise conformity to this law and the facts, you start to built the general view of the puzzle. You built the puzzle, which parts have a direct connection to final result, in other words to deals. You begin to realise things more deeply and you begin to built the actual view. You anticipate the coming.

Anticipation is practically the same thing to a seller as the image ski jumping is to Janne Ahonen. The more often the performance has been gone through as a thought the more successful it is. Janne Ahonen has proven this as the best Finnish skijumper in the early 2000 ´s (one of the world´s best in ski jumping).

Analyse, analyse, analyse. Identify objections. Negotiations, customer meetings and telephone conversations are worth dividing up to small pieces. Analysing the pieces is worth practising, and doing it often. Which part worked, which didn´t. Where did you succeed, where you have room for improvement? Think and analyse.

I have had a habit to record the negotiations gone through by me to a dictating machine or to write notes about them on paper during selling.

DOCTORS – make notes about their patients. It is totally normal. Whenever you review your notes, you develop as a seller. It is quite clear, that if you do not make notes you cannot develop as a seller. So get excited about improving your abilities and your selling skills. Now!

Feeding Back Questions

If concentration is lost for a moment when driving a car, an accident can happen. Then you might find yourself in the ditch and in a situation where the car has crashed.

It is human that also in selling situations concentrating and staying concentrated may all flat, can be unfocused for a moment. It can be caused by Low energy levels and delays in eating.

You can be surprised a situation like this, if you are not as quick–witted as Bill Clinton. What if you were surprised with pants down? What would you say?

About 10 years ago the media swarmed because of the sex relationship of Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky. The case leaked to the press and the president got into tight situations in front of the media. 

By a rumour a journalist asked him unexpectedly, if he has been in a sexual intercourse with Monica Lewinsky? Bill Clinton looked the supplier in the eyes and after that repeated the question with a little lower tempo and with a little lower tone. What happened? Bill Clinton used so–called feedback question–method (*), when the questioner has to justify his question: *The question is not changed in any part, that it does not become a question by the speaker. The responsibility is returned to the sender.

Bill peacefully:

“Have you… been in a sexual intercourse with Monica?”

After this the journalist has to answer and to formulate the question again with a little anxiety by saying:

“Yes, Mister President, it has been written in the papers that you would have been?”

To which Billy answered:

“Yes, I understand. But as it is known generally, papers write what ever. And as far as I remember, also your paper wrote wrongly about me at least once and corrected the text afterwards!”

Even Mr Clinton was surprised literally with his pants down, he was able to elude an unpleasant question by using feeding back the question-method. This way Billy-boy got a little time to think and also moved an unpleasant matter forward, in which case he was able to answer more prepared and with the help of his assistants.

In selling, the situations might not be this difficult but feeding back the question is a way with which you make your customer justify both his claim and his possible objection. You disarm him with feeding back. You are able to deal with your customer after having ensured that new objections or explanations are not coming. 

Make notes in your selling. You are able to perceive and command objections better by writing them down. Often it goes like that, that writing down things makes them three or four times easier to understand. One extremely easy way to acknowledge the question or objection is to write it down on paper and take the control from the questioner with the following words:

“That was a good question. I write it down so we can return to it after a while. Does it suit you that your question is answered a bit later?

When things are under your command, you can continue and stay focused on your customer and to do your work. Also reflexive but harmless objections often comes from a customer, which are worth taking as buying signals. You can also collect objections during the presentation, to be able to repeat them in the end and you may ask:

“Is there any other reason which prevents you from buying if these problems can be solved?”

Feeding back the question is an extremely good working tool for a seller, allowing the flow to remain on track. The best in this is that the control is retained by the seller. The customer, whether enthusiastic, not excited, or fighting back can suddenly break the PACT agreed.

The feeding back the question also relaxes the seller if the selling or presentation is already in a little pressing and stressful state. When a seller throws back questions asked, he can relax and a customer tells more information.

However, that is what it is all about, if he is not able to make the decision yet, isn´t it? THE SELLING – is in many ways mind combat. Dropping bombs (words) again and again on enemy battlefield (customer brain). If you have a good war-strategy and precision-weapons, you have a chance to win the battle ― close the deal!

Example Of Presenting The Price

Selling price should be presented last. The price is always the endpoint of the presentation, in other words the climax. We are at the closing–state and open questions are no longer asked, such as:

“How do you feel about the price?”

An open question in the final straight is a blunder at cardinal level. But this we´ve already agreed, haven´t we? Always show the price of
your product or service with

BIG NUMBERS ENOUGH! For example: 68,000€ from which

1) deposit and 2) final payment and 3) monthly installment are:
    3,500€           64,500€               631€/month

The whole contract price with big numbers at the top of the page (A4 horizontally), in which case the price nearly takes half of the space. And under this 1) deposit, 2) final payment and 3) financial part horizontally. Do it so that you draw the numbers to the paper when your customer presents and at the same time tell your matter with sure voice emphasising the advantageous, good price.

For example: “Sale price with taxes is only 68,000€, from which the deposit is 3,500€ today and the final payment 64,500€ within a week from the signing.”

It is extremely important that you are a self–certain, good pricer and you present your matter with calm, selling tempo and the numbers drawn by you are BIG AND CLEAR. Rather use a soft ink–drawing–pen instead of a normal pen.

CORE INFO Once the numbers are on the paper in front of your customer´s nose and the matter have been told verbally, you no longer speak! Always start pricing with big, fast deposit- and monthly payments.

It is a question of using the so called SILENT CLOSING –method, which means that he one who says the first words has lost the game.

That is the way it goes, so in any case do not ask anything stupid like “do we make a deal?” Wait for the customer to open his mouth. Just wait! You have drawn a tight, quite high deposit and possibly a quick term of payment for the final payment to the table, with which you direct the customer to take a stand on the deposit. You keep the control to yourself.

When the customer states that the deposit cannot be paid at this moment, you ask him coldly coolly: “Robert, if I could arrange you a little time for paying the deposit, you would be ready to sign the papers for the purchase of the property immediately, wouldn´t you?”

The former CEO of the Union Bank of Finland, Counsellor of Commerce Mika Tiivola stated aptly that, money is a measure of value! It is true. With the contract price a thing is evaluated to be worth of a certain value. As a seller you have to present it to your customer as the only right alternative at that particular moment, when a product or a service is presented. The price is the culmination of selling, after the work you have done to value the deal.

A customer senses and knows from the beginning that you are willing to sell him something. You want to make a deal with him. He becomes more and more ready to it, once the things have been gone through correctly.Repeat them and talk about the matter in a simple way, so that a customer understands, what he is buying and what kind of advantages and benefits he gets from it. Participating in presentation is pre–buying a thing or a product.

Correct tactics create a WANT in the customer to buy. Then it is the right time to talk price. A customer no longer asks questions about the product, but most certainly thinks about his own finances. For example, how he is able to pay the selling price in the time schedule offered. Wait long enough, until the customer speaks.

So, a customer buys, if the paying conditions are suitable. And he thinks nothing more than money. And if you have done everything right, you have asked already in PACT–state from the customer, that if the price is right and the paying methods suitable for his wallet, he is ready to make a deal immediately after presentation, isn´t he? This was the way we´ve agreed, haven´t we?

With the correct tactics the customer feels it difficult to challenge. If a customer asks
questions about the product during the pricing, it is a seller´s task to direct the discussion back to the pricing by stating: “Robert, that is a good question. Now that you are the owner of the real estate you can also use the parking place reserved for you. And about the deposit. Can you pay it with Visa or with MasterCard at once or should we go to bank together?”

Acting this way you neither give a control to the customer nor you lose the thread of
a situation, in which a salmon is next to the boat on it’s side, coming in, and high in lactic acid. If you let out line at this at this stage, the salmon revives and concentrates on it´s loosening kick, for example on “I must think about this a little, this came so suddenly…” If this happens, you have to reward the customer by saying:

“Robert, really good. We have concentrated to bring things to a conclusion and if we think that you have thought about everything (thought about the purchase) and you decided to buy, how do you take care of the deposit of 3,500€ ― can you pay it at once with a card or shall we go to bank?”

It is the seller´s task to keep the mouth shut and act like the deal is good and the deeds will be made now, not on 15th day. Following these steps, the order closing method facilitates the customer, as you begin to fill in information by asking:

”Robert, will the deed of the property be in your name or possibly in the name of a company owned by you?”

In the closing stage of a deal, we are always barefoot on a knife edge, in a situation from which both want to move forward. In any case NO OR YES –decision is always followed by seven–fold reassurance and testimony. In other words a customer tells himself and his nearest friend that he made a good deal and bought an apartment because of this and that. If he does not buy, he tells the same things to himself and his friends. ”It is good that I did not buy for this and that reason.” A FACT IS that human tells about his experiences to others!

It is a seller´s task to help the customer to buy and praise the decision as being good and correct ― to open the track to the right direction.

The contract price is always divided up into instalments and terms of payment are set tight so that it is even possible to make deals.

At the pricing, alternative presentations are always used, with which a customer is asked to choose the suitable solution for him.

If a customer sets conditions for his decision making, always and only respond by using the question: “If I could, you would be interested to make a deal now, wouldn´t you?” 

PRICE CORRECTLY ― Remember Papillon butterfly, use approriate sales tactics!

 

Appropriate Sales Tactics

A good seller knows how to price the products and services. With pricing I don´t mean writing the price tags, but disclosing of the price to the customer at the right place and and at the right time. Pricing done correctly increases the amount of deals in a crucial way. You get to a right timing of pricing by thinking every selling situation as a totality, in which you always try to proceed according to the same basic diagram. Without forgetting the customer himself and from what he is interested in and what wants to talk about.

All business in which a sales person is used, repeats the same basic diagram. Same questions are asked in telesales, face-to-face sales meetings and in shop– and exhibition sales. The basic formula is repeated “in the hands of a skillful seller”, even though contents and length can change according to the situation. 

The best, ”roughly salted salmon” is created with the following sales extracts:

1) Intro – Cheerful introductions and small talk
2) Getting to know – charting stage (survey)
3) Discussion about the product – introduction stage
4) Closing, deciding the deal – order stage
5) Repetition–manuals to a customer–stage You cannot close deals successfully if you do not follow the basic diagram demonstrated above by me. Keep in mind, that a seller who is not interested in his customer nor makes the charting is a stretchener and an assumer. The worst short cutter even “vomits” sales arguments to the customer.

A.S.V. = Assumes, shortcuts and vomits. 

  You cannot close deals if you cannot price correctly and at the right time. So lets roll up our sleeves and make things clear! After you have charted your customer´s needs and buying behavior chance to explain his needs and requirements he has opened the emotional “hot spots” of his brain. Pushing those you easily move on to the final, in other words to a deal. You show an easy solution to your customer and you do it in easy words which he understands, which makes him experience pleasure. You are in the comfort zone of your customers brain.

You make deals by presenting the price clearly. With pricing done correctly a big papillon–butterfly is always released from hands to the air to wake up the interest first.

Once the interest is aroused the control is taken and a customer is basically led to the pricing table, in which the price is presented suggestively simply, with clear numbers. The deal is closed. The product IS NOT presented at this stage anymore. If you mistake to ask an open question such as, for example:

”How does the price feel like to you?”

In the final straight, you begin to unpack the backpack you packed together and you will ”torpedo” the changes to close the deal.

EXAMPLE FROM THE USE OF A “PAPILLON”

You have shown a flat to your customer and the pricing stage approaches. Before the pricing, you throw the butterfly (the Papillion) in the air by presenting a question:

“At which price do you think that the apartment is to be sold?”
“Is it 1,300€/m2, 1,700€/m2 or 1,800€/m2?”

Usually a surprised customer is not able to form the right price image fast, so you can help him by saying lets go and have a look. In other words, you direct him to the pricing table. If a customer is able to answer, he very rarely dares to choose the lowest price alternative.

The use of a butterfly is strategically important because with it a customer is prepared for the deal making. If the price is not bloated nor the butterfly is used, customer only
wants to know the price and vanish with it. So the pricing is always preceded by the preparation of the matter. Every time.

After this ― once a big and beautiful butterfly has fluttered in front of the eyes long enough ― comes a momentum when the pricing is started. At this stage also you have to get a bit serious. You take things carefully, casually and energetically with the right weight value. Once you have acted right, you have doubled, tripled or even quadrupled your customers interest in the price and product.

For making a deal right now ― to close it on a knife-edge.

This chapter will continue in the next chapter of…

EXAMPLE OF PRESENTING THE PRICE – Selling price should be presented last. The price is always the endpoint of the presentation, in other words the climax… 

…

Sell Benefits Only

Golden grain is always worth picking, when it comes your way. Once you learn to sell only advantages and benefits to your customers, your pockets are always full of nuggets. When your pockets are full of gold (advantages and benefits) there are always friends, even to share with others.

Next I tell you about selling advantages and benefits with a beautician example.

You can complete a beautician education for example in Oulu cosmetologist school, in which a wide vocational education in the field of treatments is given to the students. Based on my information there is no time for a proper selling teaching. However, beauticians are expected to have professional skills in selling of treatments and products immediately after the working life begins.

Definitely a wrong way to act in masseur´s, hairdresser´s and beautician´s selling is to demonstrate and to tell to the customer about different jars (beauty products) with its price.

BEAUTICIAN´S WRONG WAY TO ACT
“This is good product, this does this, that and it, you could buy also this one, and hey… I forgot to tell one thing about this product…”

Among the sellers this kind of way to act is called an argument vomit. If the action mentioned above is strengthened with advertisements and offers, it is a question of push–press–marketing. A blunder at the cardinal level in sales is a model of three words: to assume, to shortcut and to vomit.

BEAUTICIAN´S RIGHT WAY TO ACT
The right way to act is to sell only and nothing more than advantages and benefits, to tell about them in a simple and understandable way.

Also a beautician can make a PACT in the beginning and take over the situation. I lighten up the situation with an example.

“Hello, I am Helena, your beautician during the following 50 minutes. Welcome ― Great to have you as a customer. I saw that a facial have being booked for you a week ago …good!”

“At first I want to tell you that 1) I carry out the treatments in that next room and 2) I go first through the matters about the treatments, 3) making a few questions to identify your starting point. 4) During the treatment you get face care instructions; advice on what kinds of product are worth using and how often your skin needs treatments. 5) In the end we take a look at the products suitable for you from our sales selection and 6) we can book new treatment times to make your face permanently beautiful. Does this kind of procedure suit you?”

By doing so, beautician Helena is having control over the next 65 minutes. All the way to checkout and the customer knows exactly what will happen. The customer can relax.

In the above example, the PACT would not be correct PACT, if the last question would be left undone. In addition, the real hand-agreement together must be done, and customer needs to shake hands with you again before the next step.

Subsequently, cosmetology sales can begin. All happens during the treatment. Helena is now a beautician to the occasion as the seller and the necessary half step ahead of the customer. All the time.

During treatment, beautician Helena says based on the findings and insights gathered, for customer as a beauty-professional: 1) your skin is dry (or oily) 2) recommends a series of five treatments at a weekly intervals 3) and in addition, she stresses that the skin should be treated the same way as now 4) with the right original cosmetic 5) to have the desired results between beauty centre visits and home care ― All these are crucial and gives really stable, good results. Helena continues:

“Your skin improves, you become more beautiful, life becomes in all respects for the better.”

The beautician may also tell anonymous genuine examples of cases where it has yielded significant results (benefits and interest) for customers ― detailed examples of treatments that facilitate the quantity and the products used.

Acting this way beautician – Helena sells only benefits and advantages. Shows genuine interest on her customer and to their skin, offering also solutions to their problems. Helena does the work from her heart, tells benefits personally.

Following the right path, she doesn´t have to ask even once to buy something. A customer is only offered real benefits and advantages instead of product focused bubbling.

“Lets have a look at the calendar for two weeks’ time… Would the further treatment be suitable for you on Wednesday at 17:30? Or is Thursday better day for you?”

Advantages and benefits must be told to a customer. As a seller you have to focus on this matter. Everything else is irrelevant and insignificant in today´s busy world.
Benefits cannot be thrown in bulk to the table in whatever order. Advantages and benefits have to be told individually based on customers needs, which become clear with the identifying, open questions.

Force yourself to this kind of simplified thinking. It is a huge advantage for you as a seller. This way of thinking changes you to act a seller and as a provider of advantages and benefits. You start to become genuinely interested in your customer benefit point of view and you are really able to help your customers. You facilitate their lives with the products and services sold by you.

Based on my selling experience for over 30 years I can say that in selling the best know-how is a simple and clear act.

And still so that when your mouth opens, you only tell advantages and benefits. You succeed as a seller, when you internalise this all the way to your backbone.

Have you noticed that customers often ask themselves out loud: “What is there for me?” (customer thinking out loud what benefit from this product they will get)

CRUCIAL INFORMATION Do only what your customers want and what they are willing to pay for―nothing more! Remember to sell advantages and benefits only.