Nailing the Sale: Overcoming Objections by Natalia Nicholson Course Overview If you are like most business owners, you are always looking for ways to overcome customer objections and close the sale. This workshop will help you plan, prepare, and execute proposals and presentations that address customer concerns, reduce the number of objections you encourage and improve your batting average at closing the sale.

1. NAILING THE
SALE:
OVERCOMING
OBJECTIONS
Student Workbook
BY NATALIA NICHOLSON

2. Housekeeping
• Register
• Feedback forms
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3. SESSION ONE:
Introduction and Course Overview
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Course Overview
If you are like most business owners, you are always looking for ways to
overcome customer objections and chose the sale. This workshop will help you
plan, prepare and execute proposals and presentations that address customer
concerns, reduce the number of objections you encourage and improve your
batting average at closing the sale.
Learning Objectives
✔Identify the steps you can take to build your credibility.
✔Identify those objections that you encounter most frequently.
✔Disarm objections with proven rebuttals that get the sale back on track.
✔Recognise when a prospect is ready to buy.
✔Be prepared to present options and be willing to negotiate.

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What Are Your Personal Learning Objective
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5. SESSION ONE: Credibility
If we want to build our credibility with other people, we have to first of all
be credible to ourselves.
That means selling ourselves, our products or our services first. If you
believe you are selling a good product or a valuable service, you won’t have
much difficulty selling that product or service to other people. Your body
language (open and confident) and your tone of voice (positive,
enthusiastic, pleasant) will tell them that you believe in what you are selling.
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The first impression goes along way to establish your authority.
You want a clean vehicle, polished shoes and trimmed clean fingernails,
clean groomed hair, no heavy scent or body odour, and preferably only
one bag. Women must have their briefcase and purse under control to
prevent a cluttered look. (If you can, scale back to just a briefcase).

6. SESSION TWO: Credibility
✔If you have testimonial, you can have several written up ready to
pass out or you can have names of people willing to be called.
Please make sure you ask their permission first and get the contact
information for them. Keep any testimonials or contacts up-to-date.
✔If you have a demonstration, this can add to your credibility.
However, ask permission first, and know exactly what you are doing.
A demonstration that goes wrong sell nobody.
✔As well, be aware of body movements. Don’t fiddle with your hair,
tug or adjust your clothing, play with your beard or moustache, or
otherwise fidget. Fidgeting detract from your credibility and your
confidence.

7. SESSION THREE: Your Competition
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✔By all means, learn about what your competitors are doing and consider other
alternatives to your client’s problems. Then, forget about them. Concentrate on
your client and on the strength of your own products and services.
✔Your client may also decide there are alternative solutions to their dilemmas.
Your client may decide on using internal resources as a solution to their problem
or they may decide to do nothing at all and use their budget for something else
entirely.
✔Sooner or later, every person in sales has to be aware of the fact that others
are offering similar products or services. Often there is just a great deal of
difference between the products and services you offer and those of your
competitor down the street.

8. Who are your Competitors?
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9. What are their strengths?
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10. What are your products and services,
what are their strengths?
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11. USP
In sales circle, we often talk about USP: our Unique Selling Point. If we can
differentiate our products and services from everybody’s else by knowing
what is unique and special about ours, we already have an advantage over
many people who are in sales today. Can you identify the USP for each of
your products or services?
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If you want to be prepared for handling objections,
you should be an exceptional communicator, which
means being a good listener and good at asking
questions so you understand your clients and their
needs.
SESSION FOUR:
Critical Communication Skills:
LISTENING
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A keen ability to observe your surroundings to better
understand the situation is another skill to have.

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Listening
You are far more apart to get the sale by listening carefully in what
the client has to say, that you are to act the part of slick-talking
salesperson who doesn’t give the client a chance to talk.
‘Listen and Learn’ is a good motto for everyone in sales.
Most people, on the other hand, see poor listener a rude
individuals who are disinterested and unwilling to acknowledge
other people’s opinions, feelings and experiences.
How do you feel when someone shows enthusiasm for what you say?
Flattered of course, that someone thinks you’ve got something to
say! An interested listener makes you feel appreciated, confident and
good about yourself.

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The Three Stages of Active Listening
Active listening is actually a 3-stage process:
3rd stage: Question for clarification or summarising statements such as
‘Does that happen every time you plug it in?’ ‘Have you already got an
idea of what you are looking for?’ ‘Do you already have a budget in
mind?’
2nd stage: Verbal cues, or phrases, such as uh-huh, go on. Really and
then what?
1st stage: Eye contact, and head nods, or other non-verbal
affirmations.
Of course, we must stop talking if we want to do more listening. One way to
remember that your role is to do more listening and less talking is to plant a
small post-it note on your presentation, with the letters SU—Shut Up.

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Powerful Questions
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1. Tell me a little bout…
2. Let me see if I understand…
3. Tell me how that idea is like (different from)...
4. Tell me what you mean when you…
5. Help me understand…
6. Could you give me an example of …?
Closed Question
Rather than the common ‘closed’ question which gives you only one
tiny bit of information (usually a ‘yes’ or ‘no‘). Get in the habit of
getting more ‘open’ questions to get a sense of the other person’s
ideas and opinions. Some open questions that x=can give you a lot of
useful information include:
There is probably no better way of getting your client or buyer
involved in the sales presentation than to ask questions. Ask only one
question at a time, and give the other person enough time to respond.

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Use questions to:
✔ Find out what your client wants and needs
✔ To deal with objections before they get in the way of a sale
✔ As a way of being prepared for your next sales presentation
✔ As a way of engaging your client
Asking question to clarify that clear statements greatly decreases your chances of
making a verbal blunder or promising more than you can deliver. First ask yourself,
‘What is this person not saying?’ and then ask the other person directly. Here are
some examples:
Clarified Questions
Listen very carefully to what the client is saying. Clarify any implied or unclear
statements. If someone says ‘This isn’t exactly what I had in mind’, You might
say, ‘Tell me what you are thinking of?’
✔ I’m not exactly sure what you mean. Can you go into more details for me?
✔ From what you are saying, I have the impression… would I be right or
wrong?
✔ I’m not sure I understand what you really need.
✔ Let me see if I understand you correctly. You are going to …
✔ From what you’ve just said, you decided to …

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SESSION FIVE: Observing
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Observation Skills
✔ Pay attention to the appearance and behaviour of the individual
you are meeting, as these can be a rich source of clues for
learning about person. We learn much of what we need to know
about other people by observing them.
✔ When we observe, we collect the non-verbal information they
present to us.
✔ From these, we make some inferences about their energy levels,
how they are feeling and their readiness to say yes to the sale.

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Observing skills include being aware of:
Facial Expression:
✔ Notice whether they are looking you in the face, have an alert expression on
their face and appear relaxed.
✔ Signs you have talked too long or not engaged their interest might be yawning,
rolling eyes or taking peeks at their watch.
✔ Indications they are upright about something is a tense or worried look and
whether their hands are relaxed or busy.
✔ By the way, generally the higher up the corporate ladder people go, the less they
smile. So don’t be put off by a stern visage. As for you, try for a pleasant
expression rather than a lot of smiles.
Body Movements:
✔ Is the person exhibiting open, relaxed movements, and making eye contact or
are they fidgeting during your presentation.
✔ Are their arms crossed or is their body turned away from you?
✔ While closed or turned away body movements do not necessarily indicate a
closed mind or a person not interested these are clues to pay attention to.

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Posture:
Relaxed or tense? Ramrod straight or stooped? We do make some assumptions
based on posture. While it may be dangerous for you to make assumptions, make
sure your own posture would make your mother proud.
Body build:
Someone with a wiry build is usually active with a lot of pent up energy.
Engaging them in the presentation is one of the surest ways of keeping their
interest high. A square build can be an indication of someone with a very
practical nature. Make sure you give them the practical aspects of whatever
you are trying to sell. The rounder body shape can be that of a person who
would like to engage in a bit of small talk before getting down to business.
Grooming:
Careless attire or lack of grooming could be an indication this person is
unimpressed himself, by his organization, by his job and perhaps by you. On
the other hand, everyone will expect your grooming to be impeccable.

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Classroom
Caper
Can you find ten
things wrong
with this picture?
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SESSION SIX:
Customer Service Complaint
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✔When you are in front of the decision-makers at company ABC,
making a presentation for your next sale, you can present with
confidence when you know there are no nagging customer care
issues still not dealt with from your last sale.
✔Just as important as making the sale is following up afterwards
with your client.
✔Customers want to know you will be there for them when they
need you and that you will go that extra mile to help them when
they need you.
✔You present your company and your products and services as
far as your company is concerned.

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Find Complaints and Fix Them
✔ Get in the habit of (a) finding any complaints your customers may have and (b)
fixing them, before you go back to the client for another sale. Sometimes, we
run a mile from customers complaints.
✔ That is far more impressive to most clients than saying that all your clients
are 100% satisfied all the time. (However, don’t mention that client by name
unless you have their permission to do so.)
✔ Every time you find dissatisfaction, make a note of it. When you are making
your NEXT sales presentation, you can mention the client and their
dissatisfaction, and explain how you were able to take care of it.
✔ A customer complaint indicate there is dissatisfaction
somewhere. You can make yourself look like a hero to that
client by rooting out the dissatisfaction and fixing it.
✔ We have the attitude that a customer complaint is bad thing, a
mark against us and our products or services. That isn’t so.
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Think about your present clients:
Do you call them after the sale to see if they are satisfied?
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If you don’t make the call, why don’t you?
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If you do make the call, what are some of the things you have learned from the call?
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Can you give some examples of customer complaints you have fixed?
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SESSION SEVEN:
Overcoming Objections
Selling with objections sometimes seems to be
the salesperson’s worst nightmare.
However, when you are prepared and you know
your products services responding to objections
is another way to reinforce the value of your
offerings.

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Objections are really a technique the buyer uses to slow down and make
sure he or she isn’t rushing into the sale. If you have no objection at the end
of your presentation either people weren’t listening, weren’t interested or
weren’t buying.
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SESSION EIGHT:
How Can Teamwork Help Me?
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Why work as a
Team?
Input from your peers can help everyone in the sales to be
successful.
Then, you all sit down together and work out together
some effective responses to these objections.
It can be a worthwhile investment of time for every
member of sales team to document the types of objections
they get.

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Pricing Issues
There are several ways to handle this objection.
Here are several options:
✔ If there is no flexibility in your pricing, you can find out in advance what
their budget is and then price your products and services accordingly.
✔ One advantage is that you should be within the ballpark.
✔ The disadvantage is that you may have left money on the table.
How many of you must deal with pricing issues?
✔ Yet, prices is rarely the true outstanding issue. When you don’t
know much about what you are buying, you buy price.
✔ Part of jobs as a salesperson is to educate clients about what they
pay for when they buy your product or services.
Of all the objections sales people hear in the run of a day.
‘Your price is too high’ is the most common objection and usually
the most difficult objection to handle.

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✔ You can give them the pricing in triplicate: the Cadillac version, the mid-range version, and the economy
version. Frequently the client will pick the mid-range and Cadillac-range., but rarely do they like the image
of their company buying the economy version.
✔ Use differentiator if you have one. Yes, your fee may be higher than that of the competition but you can
demonstrate the added value the client gets when they chose your product/service. This works when indeed
you have a feature/benefit that puts you in a competitive position. For this one, you have to do your homework
ahead of time. You want to be prepared with your USP and know what the competition can offer as well.
✔ Make it easy to say yes.’ Suggest a payment plan or a lower upfront cost with the final payment after
the product/ service has been delivered.
✔ There are some things that you should always emphasise when dealing with this objection.
✔ Stress the value of ownership versus the cost of purchasing.
✔ Stress the value of the services versus the cost of the service.
✔ Stress the value of long-term benefits versus the upfront costs.
✔ Stress benefits rather than features.

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SESSION NINE:
Handling other Objections
Here are some tips that you can apply to all objections.
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✔ You should also follow these three steps:
✔ Identity
✔ Validate
✔ Resolve
Then move on the next point and ask one
of those direct questions to nail the sale.
✔ Ask for feedback. Have I been clear enough or are there still some
questions you’d like to ask?
✔ Respond to the objection. Think of this as another opportunity to sell your
product or service and put it in a good light.
✔ Feed the objection back to the buyer, to be sure you are both on the same page.
✔ When your client is objecting, hear him or her out. Do not leap in too soon with
your response. Make certain you are clear about what the objection truly is.

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SESSION TEN: Buying Signals
✔ This is really another type of objection, so give them to explain what is holding them back, respond to their
concerns and try moving forward again.
✔ How will you know when your client is ready to buy? This is not an exact science.
However, some signals will be more obvious than other:
✔ The buyer leans forward and becomes more encouraged.
✔ The buyer begins making more eye contact.
✔ The type of questions asks changes from the questions about the product or service, to the details of delivery.
The paper changes:
✔ Its slows down and it speeds up.
✔ You can often rely upon your own limitations as well.
✔ If you have understood what the client was looking for, and you have presented your solution to the point
where all the buyer’s questions have been answered, you should be in a good position to look client in the
eye and say: ‘what do you think? Are we ready to do happiness?’
✔ This still leaves the response in the hands of the buyer. He or she will feel they are not being railroaded. At
the same time, you have asked for their business. If they say they aren’t ready yet, you can probe to find out
what else they need.

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SESSION ELEVEN:
Closing the Sale Closing Techniques
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✔Use what works for you. Remember, whether the answer is
‘Yes’ or ‘No’, find out why.
✔However, if you have two or three that you use and use well, this can
work in your favor. If your have too many techniques you think might
work, you may come across as unsure and indecisive.
✔Beside, trying to force somebody to do something they don’t
want to do is not only unethical but it may work against you in
the long run. Textbooks will give you all sorts of suggestions for
closing the sale.
✔Remember that you can’t make a buyer do anything,
including making a decision to buy .

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If you presently have no strategies at all, try these:
Direct questions such as:
The Ben Franklin Approach
• Shall I write up the order?
• When can we get started?
• Are we ready to move on this?
• You take a sheet of paper, divide it half, and write up the
pros side of the sheet.
• Then, you invite the buyer to write up the cons side. This
close can be effective for the undecided buyer who just
needs to get everything in perspective.
• However, use it with caution, and if you get the sense the
buyer doesn’t want to do this, drop it immediately.

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The ‘Leave it with them for weekend’ close
Do you have other closes for you? Get some examples
from the group including those that worked and those
that didn’t work.
Whether it’s a new puppy, a photocopier, or a new
plasma television, leaving the product wit the buyer for
the weekend is an option that often works. They get to
try it out on their own and pretty soon they are coming
up with their own reasons why they should buy this.

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Persistence Pays Off
✔ Never underestimate the power of a thank you note. If you
get the sale, send them a note thanking them for their
order. If you don’t get the sale, send them a little note
thanking them for taking time to meet with you.
Thank You
Notes
✔ While that may or may not be the right number of
rejections to expect, do expect rejections. Learn from them.
Then, use what you’ve learned when you go back to try
again.
✔ While you don’t want to become pest, you also don’t want
to assume a ‘No’ today is a ‘No’ for a lifetime. Some
salespeople will tell you they expect five rejections before
they get the green light.

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❖How to master the art of selling by Tom Hopkins. Warner Books. May 2005
❖Zig Ziglar’s secrets of closing the sale, by Zig Ziglar, Revell, August, 2004.
❖The salesperson’s Handbook by Cy Charney. Stoddart Publishing Co. Toronto Canada 2002.
❖Be a sales Superstar, By Brian Tracy, Berrett-Kochler Publisher Inc., San Francisco.Ca. 2002.
❖Getting Everything You Can out of all You’ve Got, by Jay Abraham, St. Martin’s Press. NY, 2000.
❖High Efficiency Selling, by Stephan Schiffman. Jon Wiley & Sons Inc. Toronto, 1997.
❖Secrets of successful Telephone Selling, by Robert W. Bly. Henry Holt and Company. New York, 1997.
❖Can I Have Five Minute of Your Time, by Hall Becker, Oakhill Press, 1993.
❖Secrets of the World’s Top Sales Performance, by Christine Harvey. Bob Adams Inc. Holbrook, Mass,
1990.
❖The Joy of Selling, by J.T. Auer, Bob Adams Inc. Holbrook, Mass, 1989.
Suggested Reading List

38. 38@ 2013 Life in Balance Seminars Pty Ltd
END
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