Can you hear me now?

I recently upgraded to a new cell phone. It took two trips to the store and two different sales people. When the first salesperson attempted to close with, “Is that the one you think you’d like?” I wasn’t sure. So I said, “I’m not sure if that will have enough battery time for me.”

He responded with, “Well, the card says it’s got 40 hours on standby, so you should be good for a whole day if you charge it at night. That’s really the top end of what you are going to get anyway.”

“Oh, great,” I thought. ‘Thanks for reading the card that I just read back to me. Now we both have the same knowledge of this phone, so I can do your job. Geez.”

I decided to wander around some more in a just-browsing mode. Why? For two reasons. One, either he really didn’t understand what specifically concerned me about battery life, or he didn’t dig enough to realize I didn’t believe the card based on my previous experience.

The salesperson was guilty of what most of us do: When we hear resistance or an objection, we say something to turn the customer around. But it doesn’t usually work for two reasons:

1. As a sales rep, we don’t understand the real objection.
2. The customer is not really open or listening to our response.

The cell phone salesperson had both of these problems. Let’s start with the first one.

We Don’t Understand the Real Objection
When I said, “I’m not sure if that will have enough battery time for me,” what does that really mean? It could mean several things:

• I talk on the phone all the time, so it won’t last a day.
• I don’t always have a chance to charge it at night.
• I’m a heavy GPS and Wi-Fi user.
• If it goes dead while I’m on the road, it creates a huge problem.
• My last phone did not have as much battery life as was listed on the spec sheet.
• I don’t want the battery to go bad in 18 months, and then I’m forced to buy a new phone before my two-year upgrade and waste money.
• Some combination of the above.
• None of the above, or … you get the idea.

From looking at the list, it’s clear there are a lot of possible underlying reasons for my general objection about cell phone battery life. A good sales rep selling a good product or service probably has the information to help address any and all of these objections. But the question is, which objection should the sales rep address? 

Without knowing, it’s a guess. If the rep guesses correctly, the customer might hear something helpful that would influence the decision to buy. But the odds are against guessing correctly. And when we guess wrong, customers might hear what we say but are thinking, ‘Yeah, but that doesn’t really address the issue. You are not listening. You are not helpful. You just want to make a sale.’

There’s more to handling an objection than just taking a marketing-approved, objection rebuttal script and tossing it out there. We have to clarify the objection before we know which is the real objection to handle.

Accept and Acknowledge first …
I believe that most customers don’t like conflict. I’m sure you can think of more than one prospect you met who actually enjoys the conflict and just wants to debate and argue. But most people who are hesitant to work with you will give you a soft objection when you ask some type of commitment question:

     “I’m not sure if that will have enough battery time for me.”

To remove any awkwardness in the conversation that would make customers uncomfortable, accept and acknowledge first. Let customers know it’s OK to have a concern and that it’s a perfectly good and logical reason to hesitate.

     “I hear you. Battery life is an important feature to be concerned with.”

… Then Clarify
Once a customer knows it’s OK to object, you can get to the heart of the objection.

     “What’s the specific requirement you have for battery life for your phone?”

This your best chance for customers to tell you more about what’s causing the hesitation. Maybe someone they know had a previous bad experience. Maybe they read something or are just unsure, but they don’t want to seem uninformed.

Be sure to listen closely and ask a few clarifying questions if needed. Pay attention. Many times, when given the chance to talk about it more, customers’ concerns may be minimized or disappear entirely. The key is to be genuine in letting them articulate thoughts instead of just waiting to pounce on them with rebuttals.

The Customer is Not Really Open or Listening to Our Response
Once customers state an objection, they expect the salesperson will usually try to overcome the objection with a sales pitch. Experiences with most sales reps have taught them well. As a result, they’re ready for battle, and they’re playing to win.

So as soon as sales reps make a counterpoint, customers will usually fortify their position and become closed to an opposing point of view, unless customers realize that you share the goal of arriving at a good decision instead of pushing products.

Drop the Rope®
Remember, customers are expecting rebuttals. A debate. And if you’ve read our other blogs, you’ll remember that your best option is to Drop the Rope and avoid any tug of war or tension. It’s simple: Remind them that it’s their choice. Tell them if that issue is a deal breaker for them, they should not buy – they are the best person to decide among all the options, including not making any purchase. For sure, this will get their attention. And, if you are sincere, as I hope you would be, it will cause them to listen to what you have the say next. My cell phone rep could have said, “If you are not sure about the battery life of this phone, you should hold off.”

Validate the Truth
OK, now you can provide some of that ‘marketing’ information. Give customers some more information, a success story about a previous customer - a word picture. Just speak the truth. And because of your previous steps, customers should be much more receptive to your point. They’ll actually be listening.

Check your Six
Just like a pilot. Look back to check on your passenger. Don’t make them commit, just check in on them to make sure they heard you and that your explanation was beneficial. This will help you determine if you’ve been effective or if more back-and-forth discussion is necessary. You need a positive response before asking any type of buying or commitment question. Make it easy for them to say maybe.

Develop the Habit in Two Steps
Make a commitment to step one -- to clarify your next objection. It takes very little practice, and you don’t need any more training. The next time a prospect shows concern about your recommendation:

• Accept and acknowledge first: “I understand – that’s an important factor.”
• Then clarify: “What specifically concerns you about ______?”

Let the prospect talk. Ask another question. Make sure you know the real issue. The first few times just worry about clarifying – respond however you’d like. Make this part of the habit. Then work on step two.

After you are comfortable getting customers to give you the real details behind their objections, go for part two. Make sure you get the customer open so that they actually listen to your response.

• Drop the Rope: “If you are uncomfortable with our approach to ______, we might not be right for you.” Or “Only you can make that decision.”
• Validate the truth: Tell them a story, give a word picture they care about – make it personal. “Recently, I had a similar customer situation, and….”
• Check your Six: “Does that help?”

Back to the cell phone store. I did not buy the cell phone that day. I went home and did some more online research. Then I went back and hoped for a different rep. I got one. And he must have known the information above already. He joined in complaining with me about cell phone battery life. How it’s never enough and the specs are under ideal conditions, which never happen. Then he looked at my old phone and showed me how to shut down a lot of things to help my battery last longer. Then he compared the specs of the new phone to my old phone. The new one was supposed to last longer and he let me decide that with my new-found knowledge to shut down some apps, it would be just fine. I bought the phone, and nine months later, I am still happy I did. Thanks, Mike (don’t remember your last name).

I hope my cell phone purchase experience helps your efforts. Give it a try. Better yet, replace ‘customer’ with ‘spouse,’ or ‘mom’, ‘dad’, ‘son’, or ‘daughter’ and re-read. Good luck.