Overcoming Objections

Overcoming Objections
By Jeff Stone

Do you have any friends in sales? Are you in sales? Have you read any sales books? If any of the above apply to you, then you know that the number of people who say “No” is much greater than the number of people who say “Yes.” It’s a fact of life. Deal with it!

If people truly reject your service, then one of three conditions exist:

  1. You have a poor quality service
  2. They have no need for your service
  3. You have a great service and they need you, but they don’t realize it

Believe it or not the majority of people fall into category number 3. So for the sake of this article, I’m going to assume that you have a good act worth paying for. If you don’t, that’s cool. But stop reading this and switch over to Roots and Branches, The Full Montoya, and Pillars of Stone. These three columns are all about improving your skills and your “game face.” This column, (No Stone Left Unturned) is all about the business end of magic… getting gigs, setting fees, managing your business, etc.

Alright… assuming you’re still here and assuming you have a solid sellable act:

When your potential client says, “No thanks,” there is protocol for this. I’ve used this for years. I spend over a decade of my life training sales people with this technique. If you apply it, your sales will drastically increase. Like it or not, one of the hats you wear as an enterainer is “sale person,” unless you have hired someone else to do your booking. That’s cool if you do, but you probably won’t need to finish this article if that’s the case.

Ok… are you still here? Great. Here’s how it goes, in five easy steps:

  1. Find the Real Objection
  2. Validate the Objection
  3. Isolate the Objection
  4. Overcome the Objection
  5. Close the Sale

Believe me when I say that an entire book can be written about this process. I know because I’m writing it. You’re going to get the XCN version. Sorry, geek moment… XCN (Extreme Cliff Notes).

Find the Real Objection:
How do you do that? Simple. You ask. However, there are a couple of rules to consider when doing this step.

  • Do NOT create objections
  • Use Paraphrasing

See. Simple. All to often, when asking why the prospect says “No,” the sales people say this, “Is it the price?” That’s a stupid question. I know you’ve heard there’s no such thing, but they were wrong. That is a stupid question.

What do you think the client’s going to say? They’ll say “Yes.” Even if it’s not true. They just want to end the conversation.

In addition, maybe they had an entirely different objection, but now they have a second one because you put the thought in their heads. Instead, try one of these:

  • “Do you mind if I ask why?”
  • “Why do you say that?”
  • “Do you mind if I ask what’s holding you back?”

When you ask a question like this, you’ll get the truth 9 times out of 10. Once you get an answer, make sure you understand it by paraphrasing it back to them, and get them to acknowledge that you understand the objection correctly. For example:

Client: I don’t think we’ll be able to hire you for our party
Magi: Do you mind if I ask why? (note that you are asking a question without creating an objection)

Client: Well I’m just not sure the people will want to see a magician.
Magi: Why do you say that? (note that you are asking a question without creating an objection)

Client: Well we had a magician here last year, and he was a total flop.
Magi: Ok. I see. So basically, your concern is that the show will be boring and the audience won’t have a good time (note that you are now paraphrasing back here concern).
Client: Yes. I would hate to have another experience like that. I’m sorry.

Most people would have already lost by now, but not you… you’ve stuck it out through step one, and now you know the real objection, and she has verified it with her last statement. Now you and she both know exactly what the objection is.

Validate The Objection:
The next step is probably the most important step of the process. Again, there are a couple of rules:

  • Don’t Argue! – No “Yeah Buts”
  • Build Rapport

It is absolutely critical that the client realizes that you are not arguing, that you are not merely dismissing their concern. Think about this for a second: The client has told you that the concern is that last year’s guy was a bomb. Should your response be, “Yeah, but I’m not a bomb… I can give you a ton of testimonials and my client list, etc.”

What that says to the client is that you think her concern is stupid and it wasn’t a valid point. You dismissed it with a yeah but. You must build rapport. Rapport simply put is a common ground. They must feel that you feel they are important. They must know that you are on their side.

So let’s pick up our conversation:

Client: Yes. I would hate to have another experience like that. I’m sorry.
Magi: I completely understand. I don’t blame you. If I had an experience like that I’d be leary too.

Now, you see what happened there. You completely validated the client’s concern letting her know that you absolutely feel that she has a valid point. There is sooooo much more I could say on this step, but unless you want me to stretch this article out over three issues, we’ll have to wrap up this step. Suffice it to say that you must make sure that the client knows that you know her concern is valid. Agree with her!

Isolate The Objection:
This is my favorite step. Here is where you start to turn things around. You’ve hopefully built a little bit of a common ground (aka Rapport) with the client. Now it’s time to start working on a solution. The purpose here is to make sure that they have no other objections. So let’s pick up where we left off in our conversation.

Magi: I completely understand. I don’t blame you. If I had an experience like that I’d be leary too.
Magi Continues: Is that the only thing holding you back?

Client: Yes. I’m just afraid of wasting money on another failed performance.
Magi: I understand. Let me ask you this: If you knew the show would be a hit, would you be interested in having me perform?

They must either admit that yes, if you are a good performer they will hire you, or you’ll find out that they have another excuse.

Client (Answer 1): Of course. If I knew that your show was a hit, then I would hire you, but there’s no way to know for sure.

or

Client (Answer 2): No. I probably still wouldn’t hire you.

Let’s look at scenario 1 first. If they say yes, then it’s time to move to step 4, overcome the objection. You may want to throw in a little more step 2 by following up with a statement that validates the concern she mentioned that there’s no way to know for sure if the show will be a hit. We’ll cover that in a moment when we hit step 4.

In scenario 2, you’re back to step one. She lied to you. Think about it. She said the problem was the Lug Nut the Romanian Clown from last year. But now she’s saying that if you could surmount that she still isn’t interested, so that means the problem is something else. Also, when you asked “Is that the only thing holding you back,” she may say “no.” In that case you are also back to step one.

You have to again ask her, “Why do you say that?” You’ve started the whole process over again. That’s very common that you may have to go 1, 2, 3, 2, 3, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2, 3… Very common to go through that cycle before you finally get to step 4.

The key – and this is absolutely critical – is that you must NOT move on to step 4 until you’ve narrowed it down to only 1 objection, and you’ve gotten the client to admit that if that one thing were eliminated she would agree to hire you. If you have not done this, then step 4 will not work, because in step four, you will eliminate that “one thing.”

Overcome The Objection:
This is another subject that is extremely packed full of information, and in fact, we will be further discussing this in February 2009’s issue of No Stone Left Unturned. However, a brief overview is necessary here. First, the objective here is to use a “scripted” rebuttal to counter their concern and tactfully make it a moot point.

In every field where sales is involved, there are a handful of common objections that the sales people get. For real estate sales, you’ll have these 4 or 5, and for car sales you’ll have those 4 or 5, and magicians, you’ll have yet another 4 or 5. What are those few for magicians? Well that’s the subject of next month.

However, know this that once we know what they are and what a good rebuttal is for them, then you’ve mastered step 4. So let’s, for the sake of this discussion deal with the objection at hand. Let’s pick up our conversation:

Client: Of course. If I knew that your show was a hit, then I would hire you, but there’s no way to know for sure.
Magi: Absolutely. You are correct. There is no way to know for sure. I understand (note how you are using step 2 – validation – tools)
Magi Continues: What I can do is give you copies of several testimonials even phone numbers of past clients, and I guarantee my shows. If the show is a flop, then you’ll be refunded.

Ok, so let’s examine this a bit. First, I again validated and agreed with her. Second, I offered a solution. Note that I’m not advocating that you should or shouldn’t guarantee your shows with a money back guarantee. I’m simply offering a technique, not the rebuttal itself. The specific rebuttals will be covered next month.

Once you’ve offered the rebuttal/solution, then it’s time to move forward with the step 5, the close.

Close The Sale:
It could be argued that this is the most important step. It’s a toss up between this and step 2. Without step 2 nothing else happens. You basically just end up arguing with the client. However, if you don’t ask for the sale, you can’t get it. So onward. You can’t throw out a rebuttal and just leave it hanging there. You’ve got to tell them what’s next.

This is another subject that could be it’s own book. In fact there have been many books written about this very thing… Closing Sales. The problem, often, is that these books tend to forget about the first couple of steps and try to move right from the objection to the close.

Picking up where we left off:

Magi: What I can do is give you copies of several testimonials even phone numbers of past clients, and I guarantee my shows. If the show is a flop, then you’ll be refunded.
Magi Continues: So that being the case, I think it would work out well for both of us. What do you think?

Then SHUT UP!!!!!!! You’ve asked what she thinks, now let her answer. She’ll either say “yes,” or not. If she does not, then you’re back to step one. This is why it’s referred to as a sales cycle.

Final Thoughts:
This concept can be applied to sales as well as personal relationships. I’ve used this many times in vary parts of my life. At the very least, this system will teach you to be a good listener. The best sales people are listeners. People who feel like they are being listened to by you are more likely to like you and trust you.

So here’s the concept in a nutshell when someone tells you “No:”

Find out why there are saying “No.” Make sure they know that you feel they have a valid concern. Make sure it’s the only concern. Offer a solution. Ask for the sale.

That’s it. It’s a simple process that takes a bit of practice, but it pays off HUGE. Until Next Month…

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