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Good post from Miller Heiman on Objections and Basic Issues:
What Isn’t Your Customer Telling You?
An objection is really an opportunity. It gives you a chance to target the information you are missing.
When your prospect raises an objection, listen for what she’s not telling you because that objection is merely a symptom of an underlying Basic Issue. That Basic Issue is something deeply personal that leads the prospect to believe she’ll be taking a risk and will be on the losing side if she agrees to your proposal.
An objection such as: “We do not have time for this,” may actually be telling you that the customer feels overwhelmed given the current projects this quarter. Taking on more would make her appear incompetent, or that she will have to work longer hours thereby sacrificing time with family. You also hear the common objection, “Your price is outrageous!” A possible translation would be that this person has sponsored a similar project in the past that did not deliver as expected and she’s not confident that approving yours would improve her credibility to the board.
The severity of the customer’s Basic Issue can go from bad to worse over time unless you consciously step in. Do so any time in the sales call where you sense your customer is in an “I’m losing” frame of mind. There are ways to discuss and work with those feelings but the one thing you should NOT do is to deny their validity. Saying something like, “You shouldn’t feel that way,” is a surefire way of killing your deal on the spot.
Instead, ask questions like: “You had shown a little uncertainty about how my proposal will affect your team’s current workload (or structure). Do you still feel that’s a potential problem?” Or simply call it out with a direct question, “If I could give you a proposal that would make you entirely comfortable, what would it look like?”
No matter how you phrase the questions, the objective is to uncover the area of distress so you can address it. And because you’re dealing with feelings and attitudes, it’s especially important that you pause and listen to the answers. You want to convey to your prospect that you are a partner who is invested in her success as a result of this deal.
Tips Archive
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Sernovitz and the Gaspedal crew via SocialMedia.org are bringing a cool event to SanFran on June 20th…
Yours Truly will be there…
… and I’ll have a tabletop, signing copies of my new book:
“Smackdown! How to get the public to perceive you’re still a man, even though your wife beats you at home.”
Should be a best seller on Amazon.
Sernovitz was kind enough to send me a discount code for 33% off, drop me an e-mail and I’ll send you da info.
craig@theemptybin.com
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If you really think it through, there are only two roles within any Company’s organization:
- Sales; and,
- Sales Support.
If you’re truly a Customer-Centric organization, then there quite simply can’t be any other role within your Company.
Period.
If you do have other roles, then you’re a product-centric company.
Everyone in your organization ultimately touches the product (service), the process, and definitively affects the Customer’s Experience.
It’s about a different paradigm: focus on your products, or focus on how your Customers EXPERIENCE your products.
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Good stuff from Sernovitz for those of you getting ready to launch your first WOMM campaign.
Original link here: HOW TO GET YOUR WOMM PROGRAM OFF THE GROUND.
“[Welcome back to the You Can Be a Word of Mouth Marketing Supergenius! newsletter. This is text from the great issue all of our email subscribers just received. Sign yourself up using the handy form on the right.]
You can have amazing word of mouth. You can get your happy customers and fans telling everyone about you — you can be great at this. Here’s how to get started:
1> Focus on a single group of talkers
2> Test something today
3> Repeat
1> Focus on a single group of talkers
Don’t start by trying to get everyone talking — start by trying to get someone talking. Maybe it’s a group of local daycare moms, restaurant servers, librarians, or auto mechanics. A good focus on specific talkers means you’ll have a better chance of creating something they want to share.
2> Test something today
By the end of the day, test a new topic with this group. Invite them to an event, give them a special sample, ask them for feedback, or just say thanks. It might not work, but that’s OK. There’s always tomorrow.
3> Repeat
Next week, try it again. This time with a different group and a different topic. When you find something that works, try it again — but bigger this time. There’s no science or secret recipe to great word of mouth, just a commitment to trying lots of ideas designed to find your talkers and figure out what gets them sharing.”
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