The Twelve Steps to Successful Telemarketing – Step Ten: Handling Objections, Part Three of Three

By Kathy Sisk

In the last issue, we covered six objection methods:

1) Restate or Agree and Probe

2) Keep Selling

3) Reflect

4) Feel, Felt, Found

5) Ask Prospect for Best Solution

6) If I Could…, Would You…?

Now, let’s wrap up our discussion on handling objections.

Combined Objection-Handling Methods: You can also combine the methods to be more creative in overcoming the objections. For example:

“I understand your concerns, Mr. Smith. I know that price is important to you, and that you want the best price possible. I recommend a consultation. This would enable you to clearly understand and justify the price. For example, you will increase your employees’ confidence and motivation and enhance your company image. More importantly (pause) you will reduce your production overhead and increase your company’s profitability. If I can show you a way to gain the benefits I’ve just described, would you allow me the opportunity to meet with you personally so that I can validate this further?” (or) “….Would you allow us the opportunity to validate this further by using the program for 30 days? If you’re not completely satisfied, we will refund your investment 100 percent. Does that sound fair enough?” (Assumptive.)

Which objection techniques were used? Yes, the “feel, felt, found” and “If I could …, would you …” methods. Now, you practice combining the methods to create your own style of delivery.

Never Say Never: Never give up on an objection until you try to overcome it at least three times. The first objection may be telling you, “I wasn’t listening.” The second objection is saying, “You haven’t given me enough information.” The third objection is letting you know, “I still need more information; you haven’t pushed my ‘hot button’ yet.” If you still have not been successful after the third round, be sure to leave the door open for future contact by using your easy close:

“Thank you for your time and for sharing this information with me. If I could send information you would have an interest in, what would that be?” (Make this an assumptive statement.)

Be sure to get your prospect to commit to your follow-up call, encourage a healthy call back, and ensure the prospect’s interest in receiving the information. Maybe now is not the right time for your prospect, but if he or she has gone this far with you, there is still an interest. You may need a few more contacts to establish rapport. The key here is to establish and build a relationship. Do not create unintentional bad will by being insistent. Perhaps now is not the time to sell. It doesn’t mean, however, that you can’t begin a rapport now that will develop into a future sale—or even a referral.

A Positive Outlook: A prospect’s complaints are sometimes based on a previous bad experience. An objection can be viewed as a concern of the prospect. Once you have gone through the objection process, narrowed down the objection to the real issue, and determined that you can do nothing more to offer solutions that will satisfy your prospect, you should not have any negative feelings about your contact. You’ve done your job to the best of your ability. Remember, you can always keep the line of communication open by using the easy close. There are still plenty of prospects out there!

Knowing that you have followed what you were instructed to do helps you to remain confident and positive for your next prospect.

Earlier we discussed the benefits of having your presentation in a script format (your road map). Your prospects’ most common objections with your appropriate answers also need to be scripted. In an automated environment, this is accomplished by placing these into the software. However, when you are in a manual environment, these objections and answers should be readily available.

Ideally, what you want to eventually accomplish is internalizing your rebuttals. The best way to do this is by practice—through role playing, understanding how the objection techniques function, and using them daily. Adapt them to fit your company’s needs and start practicing.

This completes the entire series of the Twelve Steps to Successful Telemarketing. (Remember, we saved Step Ten for last.) You can read the entire series online, starting at “The 12 Steps to Successful Telemarketing: Understand Your Market Share.”

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Kathy Sisk is founder and president of Kathy Sisk Enterprises Inc. located in California. Kathy is a trainer and consultant, contributing thirty-five years of expertise to the telemarketing, sales, and customer service industries.

[Read more of the series “The 12 Steps to Successful Telemarketing”: the prior article.]

[From Connection Magazine April 2013]

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