|
Objections vs. Conditions
By Michael S. Finn, RRP
The following is something I was taught fifteen (15) years ago and I have barely seen it
taught in years. I was told there was a difference between conditions and objections. A condition was explained
to me as a legitimate reason that a prospect could not buy. The best is always going to be they do not have the
money. As hard as we try, if the customer cannot afford the monthly payment they cannot buy. There are various
conditions. Maybe you do not have a product that suits this prospect's needs.
The reason I bring this up is that I hear many times where a sales executive confuses an objection with a condition.
Let's look at a number of possible scenarios and decide if they are conditions or objections:
Your customer owns a week of timesharing already.
Not only is this not a condition it is not an objection. I believe that the ARDA figure is that each owner of
timeshare owns an average of 1.6 weeks. That would tell me that nearly 40% own multiple weeks, considering some
own more than two. Personally I would want any tour that I have a 40% potential closing percentage.
Your prospect is a Muslim that has religious beliefs against paying any interest.
This is very likely a condition. Now if you are good enough to convert their religion during the presentation
then it may be overcome. Other than that you have a dead end, unless they pay cash (and do not forget to ask, you
just may be surprised).
Your customer has a friend or family member that owns and does not like their timeshare.
This objection is most likely just smoke (we will discuss smoke later). There is an easy way to turn that around
quickly. Just ask them if their friend has used their week lately. They will normally say "no". That
is the number one reason that an owner would be dissatisfied. Ask all of those people who own exercise equipment
and do not use it. They will not be happy with their investment. Use testimonials and third party stories to emphasize
that owners who know how to use their ownership are the happiest people out there.
The prospect that says they never do anything on the first day.
They are just testing you. If you cannot get around that one, we need a whole other article.
The point is that there are not many conditions and you really would not know that they have a real condition
until you have done a full presentation.
Now we really need to decide if what the customer is floating out there is even an objection. Many times we
mistake objections for what are merely a smoke screen. A smoke screen is used to hide the truth. They figure it
may have worked on the last sales executive and it may just work on you. One smoke screen that works well is that
we have toured many resorts, some even this week, and we are just here for the gift. This gets at our ego, which
makes it even more dangerous. Do not let it get to you. I once worked with a woman who would say, "That is
great, it means our marketing is working. Our studies show that the more resorts a customer sees the more likely
they are to BUY." I found that this screen was used most often to try to get a shorter tour. I always like
to say, "Boy am I glad to hear that". That always startles people. Then I would add, "Well since
you know so much about our product I will be able cut some corners". Note to self- "I never cut corners,
bad business practice."
The best salespeople in business know that to be great you must be consistent. Right down to the tie down you
may ask each time you leave the model. Remember: not a canned presentation, a planned presentation.
Plan it well and make it work, then use it again and again.
The success that you have in sales will be a direct reflection on how well you handle objections. Some of the
most successful sales executives I have ever met simply ignore them. Many use a technique known as "aside
from that". When the client brings up an objection tell them that you understand and "aside from that"
is there anything else that would prevent you from getting involved with us today. If the answer is "no"
move on and if it does not come up again let it go: it was smoke. If it is a little tougher you may want to use
"feel-felt-found". An oldie but a goodie. The scenario may go like this:
The prospect tells you that he heard that your product does not have flexibility.
First of all never disagree with a client. If you chime in with "Mr. Smith you are wrong", the only
one wrong here is you. Let's try this: "Mr. Smith I know how you might feel, I have had owners who have felt
the same way. What they have found is…(and explain the flexibility of your product)."
Please understand that these are merely some techniques for determining if statements are conditions, objections
or just smoke. Do not mistake these techniques for proper answering of a valid objection or question. If you have
a good defensible answer, by all means use it. The more information the customer has, the closer he gets to becoming
an owner.
|
