Objection Handling: Part 1

How do you handle a price objection? It’s going really well, and then ‘that’s a bit expensive.’ What do you do? 

Join Bob and Jeremy as we uncover how viewing objections as speed bumps rather than roadblocks can transform your sales strategy. 

In this episode we shine a light on price objections, equipping you with the tools to handle them like a pro. Prepare to turn those apparent sales hurdles into golden opportunities by mastering the art of questioning and understanding the psychology behind customer resistance.
 
Journey with us through an engaging scenario involving a middle-class domestic purchase, where we demonstrate our top objection handling strategies. Discover why objections might be the secret buying signals you've been missing all along. From the importance of early preparation to the nuanced dance of reselling, this episode is your guide to revolutionising your sales conversations. Whether you're a budding salesperson or a seasoned expert, tune in for tips that promise to elevate your approach and maximise your success.

Explore resources, insights, and tools tailored to support your team's success and strategic growth at realitytraining.com.

Transcript

Speaker 1 0:14

you are listening to the reality is sales training. What sales training are we going to do today, bobby?

Speaker 2 0:21

so this is going to be the first in a series of short podcasts all about the thorny subject of objection handling and, in this instance, price objection handling. Now, as a salesperson, of course, you're going to have people at various points who say, oh, that's a bit high, oh, that price is a bit more than I thought it. Was. Going to have people at various points who say, oh, that's a bit high, oh, that price is a bit more than I thought it was going to be, and they will take many, many different forms. And so today we're going to look at really one of the best ways of handling a price objection, and it's something that we've been training for many years to different markets and we know that it works in all sectors as well. Jeremy, do you want to say more?

Speaker 1 1:08

Yeah, I suppose the only thing I'd add to that is this general concept of an objection. It's quite a fun word North Americans use. They call them stalls, so it's just something to handle. We also talk about it's a speed bump, not a roadblock. The traffic's slowing. We've road block because the traffic's slowing. We've got to manage the traffic. This is the. This is the tough bit, but what it will also expose when we demo this is what you've got to have got right before. So one of the things I would say is that sales trainers that go out and just train on objection, hammy and closing all of the good work is at the start and we'll comment comment on here where the work took place, which is why they handled it well.

Speaker 2 1:49

So actually our last episode was all about questioning skills and asking great questions. If you haven't asked enough decent questions, you are going to struggle to handle objections. You really are, because when you are at that point where you think the sale is about to be done, then a they might buy it, in which case you don't have to handle an objection at all. But also there's all this other psychology that comes in. Now some, some customers just don't want you to have too much of an easy ride and will throw in an objection. For the hell of it. You've still got to handle it professionally and in some ways resell them that thing they were about to buy anyway.

Speaker 1 2:35

There's also another concept which is quite fun but I think has a ring of truth about it, is that an objection is a buying signal, because otherwise why would they bother to even discuss an element of something they don't like about it? You know the english we talked about this as well how we vote with our feet and we often just leave a confrontational situation. We don't complain other nations are much better at that. But if somebody starts to go hang on a minute, will it definitely waterproof? Can you explain that? Are you sure it can do that? Then there's actually an interest level, arguably. So. If you handle all those objections, you're removing the reasons why they can't buy.

Speaker 2 3:16

If you could think about objections in that way, then I think that change of attitude would help you, because you would almost look forward to getting the objection so that you can then handle it and then you've got a better chance of selling it, whereas I know many people who hear an objection and go, oh God.

Speaker 3 3:39

I thought I was winning here, oh, they've never complained about that. Yeah, exactly.

Speaker 1 3:45

You do have to sell things. People, whether it's disposable income on something personal, they're buying or they're spending a company's money on something to improve a business. You still have to sell. And if I'm even talking to a salesperson, we should say, then I'm going to receive an objection because if I bought it online, I was sold. I didn't require an intervention of any salesperson. Let's create a situation.

Speaker 2 4:09

Yes, so why don't I be the salesperson? And Jeremy, you can be my customer. What is it you're buying from me?

Speaker 1 4:17

Do you want something middle class, or do you want something I wouldn't?

Speaker 2 4:20

expect anything less from you. So what do you?

Speaker 1 4:22

think, domestic purchase.

Speaker 2 4:24

Nice domestic purchase for your middle class life.

Speaker 1 4:28

How about a new washing machine?

Speaker 2 4:32

Perfect. So we're going to be standing in a well-known retailer with a load of washing machines around and let's imagine we've had a bit of a conversation to start off with and I've asked a few questions about Jeremy's life, the number of people in his family, the number of washes that his new washing machine is likely to have to cope with, and whether any of them are going to be caked in mud from excessive sports. So we've had this long conversation about that and we've moved from, I think, what most people call a budget machine up towards something slightly larger. It's sort of black with a huge, great domed window at the front. It's what you might call a sort of premier option. But for a family like his, this is really the best sort of thing for him. So we're coming towards the close now and so I said there you go, Jeremy, it's the XPp 1000 which is going to be perfect for you, and that one is 1274 pounds yeah, so it's not the xp 1000, the xp 1200.

Speaker 1 5:44

Really um 1200 pounds for me to get a new washing machine for my home. I mean that's just too expensive, isn't it?

Speaker 2 5:54

I understand how you feel.

Speaker 1 5:57

So you just think it's too expensive? Well, yeah, I mean, it's certainly more than I thought a decent washing machine would cost these days.

Speaker 2 6:03

Okay, aside from the cost of it, what do you think of the actual machine and what it will do?

Speaker 1 6:10

Well, I love all that low-temperature washing stuff. That's all good. So you're not boiling up the water so much, you're washing on a low temperature. No, and I think the drum size means that we can put a lot more in than we have been washing in one go, and I suppose that helps. I mean, it's a good machine. It seems big, but you've been making the point that it needs to be. It's just, you know, 1,200 quid.

Speaker 2 6:34

Well, you've just mentioned a few key points. If I could absolutely prove to you that this machine is worth every penny of that 1,200, would that help?

Speaker 1 6:44

Yeah, go for it. What is it I'm not appreciating?

Speaker 2 6:47

You said to me earlier that you had three active sports people in your house who were doing sport including rugby, lacrosse, tennis, show jumping and other sports right the way through the winter and often come in caked in mud. You actually use the word caked.

Speaker 2 7:08

No, I do Okay yeah yeah, now that is on top of all your general washing for five people. Now, of course, you could have a lower cost washing machine, but you know what's going to happen In a couple of years you're going to be back looking for a bigger one and you're going to be wondering why it hasn't lasted. This thing it's like the Mercedes it's big, it'll take a big load of stuff. It's got all these other features that we were talking about?

Speaker 1 7:33

No, no, I get it, I get it. I get it, I get it. No, no, let's do it. Will you deliver it and install it? How much are we charged to do that?

Speaker 2 7:40

Yeah, there's another 120 for that. Okay, let's do it.

Speaker 1 7:43

All right, come on. I don't want any of your after warranty because you've sold me on the five principles which so many brands now use as the basis of their sales models.

Speaker 3 8:01

This gives them consistency and certainty. Find out how we can help you sell more at realitytrainingcom okay, now let's have a look at that analogy.

Speaker 2 8:12

So that's what we call permission-based objection handling. I had to get permission to resell him on the value, even though he was doing a pretty good job of it himself. I think I could have just looked at him and raised.

Speaker 1 8:24

I couldn't stop myself from actually getting marginally excited. I think what was quite good was the silences.

Speaker 2 8:32

I think if I just raised my eyebrows at one point, you'd have gone. Okay, I'll have it. But let's just look at the psychology. So first of all, he said it was too expensive. I said I understand how you feel. That's me empathizing with him. I'm not agreeing with him, I'm just saying I understand how you feel. And then I repeated the objection you just think it's too expensive.

Speaker 1 8:59

Now that's really important. Why is important to repeat the objection? Jay, it's important that I hear what I've said, because if I just go as too expensive and when bob says to me, okay, so you just feel that that's too expensive, I go too expensive, did I say that well, and I modified it, didn't I so well? That's slightly more than I thought a modern washing machine would cost. Now, if I haven't bought one, for see the irony of this I may have bought one 10 years ago, and a decent one at the time, which might have been 750. Who knows, who knows um. So I hear it. That's why people always say, oh, proves you've listened.

Speaker 2 9:26

Yes, but more than that, I hear what I've said so then the next stage is he may modify the objection, but it's it's a cost related objection. So then I said Do you have any other concerns aside from price, any concerns about the product? Now, then he basically sold himself the machine. No, it does this, it does that. He can see that it's a great machine, it's just the cost.

Speaker 2 9:55

Now if he'd said no, no, no, I don't think I need all these features and it's not the right machine for me, then I know we've got to go and look at another machine. But because he was sure that it was the right product, it was just the cost he was wrestling with. I then had the chance to say look, if I could prove to you, show you, help you understand, recap all the main features so that you can see this is actually worth every penny, would that help? Now he still could have gone. No, no, no, I'm not spending that, but actually go on then. And then I came back to things he told me earlier. Through good questioning. I understood his family, their various middle class sporting pursuits, and that was very easy for me to then use those facts to remind him where the value was here I think now just just to say very important that you didn't just go.

Speaker 1 10:45

Well, hang on, it's got this, it's got this. They're asking for permission. If I go yes, go on then means I'm receptive to receive his reasoning. A lot of sales people never do that. They go hang on. You've got to remember, mate, that it's coming with this guarantee and you need to appreciate that the drum cycle spin is a thousand revs per minute too much.

Speaker 2 11:02

You're overselling. No, you're overselling to me now. No, make it personal now. That is one of our overriding things, really. If you're selling something, try and personalize in some way. If you're just transactional and not getting personal, you're not selling as much as you could and don't just talk about the washing machine.

Speaker 1 11:23

I don't really care about the washing machine. If I if't really care about the washing machine, if I talked at the beginning and you'd picked up my type of customer I wanted to know what the metal was and all that and heat then you'd have been technical. But it's all about my kids and what they're wearing and washing. So the personalization comes through understanding the person's lifestyle and saying it back to them Exactly.

Speaker 2 11:46

So this is our first type of objection handling. I'll remind you it's called permission-based objection handling. You're getting permission to restate the value for that particular customer. Now we've given you one example. Your job is to think okay, I understand the principles here. How can I adapt this for my product, my services? The principles are exactly the same. We haven't yet found, in 20 years, any business that couldn't adapt this system to help them convert their objections.

Speaker 1 12:19

If you're using the reality of sales training for sales training and quite literally translate this practice, it write it out. You've got a little mini module right here, so we'd love to hear how it works for you.

Speaker 2 12:32

Now. There are many more ways to handle objections and we'll be covering them in future episodes. Cheers for now. Bye, Thank you.