Idea # 3: prepare your rebuttals
People will say 'no' to you.
People will say "I'm not interested."
(Does this woman look interested? She is definitely not interested)
Photo: Mahalie Stackpole
People will say "No, I cannot buy from you, because your stuff is just way too expensive!"
People will say "No, I cannot buy it now, because I want to think it over first."
People will say "No, I cannot buy from you, because I have to speak to my boyfriend / husband / sister about it first."
People will say all kinds of things.
But it doesn't have to catch you by surprise. You can be ready for this, so when they say 'No', you already know the next words that need to come out of your mouth to overcome their statement. In sales parlance, this is known as 'overcoming sales objections' or 're-butting sales objections'.
You need to prepare those sales rebuttals! Here is a useful cheat sheet to help you do just that:
Customer Concerns (When they say this…) |
Possible solutions (…you say this) |
|---|---|
| "I want to think it over" | "I understand. It sounds like you are still not 100% sure. What are you still thinking about?" (Now you can find out if they have other concerns) |
| "I want to think it over" # 2 | "OK. Let's set up a meeting say for Tuesday to discuss any final questions you have. Can you come here/Can I call you Tuesday to discuss any final questions you might have?" |
| "I have to talk it over with my wife / my boyfriend / my parents." | "What questions do you think they'll have?" Cust. : "blah blah blah" "And what will you answer them about that?" (This will help discover any other objections the customer has. Also, if they really DO need to speak it over with someone else, you will be helping them prepare good, persuasive answers) |
| "You are too expensive" | Divide the investment by the numer of days to show how little $ this is. "Just pennies per day" for all the services and features we offer. |
| "You are too expensive" | "It sounds like you are comparing us to some other price you have heard. Did another organization give you different prices or a quotation?" |
| "You are too expensive" | "that's EXACTLY why you should choose one our product/service. If you have limited finances, you want the product/service that will give you the greatest return. Ours does that." |
| "You are too expensive" | "Let me ask you a question: if you were going to go on a plane trip, would you want the cheapest pilot or the best pilot flying that plane?" (The customer hopefully answers 'the best!') "Exactly. Our customers want the best too. Isn't that what you want?" |
| "You are too expensive" | "Hmmm…OK. Let me see…I cannot guarantee this, but if I speak to my supervisor and get a XX% discount which will save you about $XYZ, would you be interested." ("yes") "OK, let me go and check…" |
| "You are too expensive" | "that's EXACTLY why you should choose one our product/service. If you have limited finances, you want the product/service that will give you the greatest return. Ours does that." |
| "Is that the best price you can do?" | Just say "Yes" and be silent. (Don’t say "oh it'd be very difficult to do better than that" etc. This only weakens your position) |
This table is not exhaustive. Think about the typical objections you hear your customers make. Add them to the list above and then think about how you could overcome those objections and turn them into sales.
In fact, add them to the comments below if you want and let's all have a think about them. Go ahead! What objections do you usually hear?