Category: Closing & Objection Scripts

The Price Objection—Again!

by mike

If you’re ever challenged with the objection, “Your price is pretty high for that…” and you are tempted to see if you can lower your price to compete, what is the most important bit of information you need?

Think about this…

I was listening to a training call the last week, and the prospect told the rep that his price was quite high for a certain item. The rep then asked for the part number and told this prospect that he would “see what I can do.”

Now that may seem fine, but what is the crucial bit of information he needs to compete here?

He needs to know what other “lower” prices the prospect is seeing—or if the lower price he can offer is low enough to beat the price the prospect has and so win the deal.

If you’re ever faced with this situation, here is what to say:

Prospect: “Your price on these is too high.”

You: “I understand. What price have you been seeing on this?”

Then:

“I’m happy to see what I can do, and let me ask you: How many of these do you need? When do you need them by? Finally, if I can match that price, is this something you want to go ahead and order from us?”

By getting this kind of information, you’ll be positioning yourself to not only get a commitment on the order, but you’ll know how many and when.

Try this the next time you’re in this situation and watch your sales—and your commission—grow.

Need More Proven Responses to the Selling Situations You Face Every Day?

ON DEMAND SALES TRAINING THAT GETS RESULTS!

If your team is struggling with call reluctance and is tired of the endless rejection they face, then get instant access to our On Demand training today. We provide the exact talk tracks, templates, and proven tools your team will be motivated to apply, all structured around an award winning comprehensive inside sales approach that gives your team the confidence to succeed in every selling situation they face today.

Unlimited License: One to 100 reps can attend for one low price!

Perfect for reps dealing with the following issues:

  • Reps struggling with call reluctance
  • Getting screened out by the gatekeeper
  • Overcoming blow off objections like, “Just email me something”
  • Identifying decision makers
  • Qualifying prospects
  • Setting call back appointments that stick
  • Giving successful presentations and dealing with objections
  • Staying motivated
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Happy With Who We’re Using

by mike

This blog post is for those of you who haven’t purchased and read any of my book of scripts yet (what are you thinking? 🙂 )

For those of you who are prospecting, this objection, “We’re happy with who we’re using,” is something you most likely encounter often.

The question is: what do you say to it?

This objection—like all others—is a perfect one to script an effective response to, and here is one of my favorites:

Objection: “We’re happy with who we’re using” (Or any variation like, “We’re all set”):

Response: “That’s perfectly OK; I didn’t expect you to be in the market today. In fact, because you already have someone, this is the perfect time to compare prices and services with other vendors. That way, when you do have a need to look elsewhere, you’ll have a solid option already vetted.

“Let me ask you this….”

And then use a qualifying question regarding what they use, how often they order, etc.

Bonus response:

“No worries, I’m not going to sell you anything today. Instead, I simply want to give you some information so if things change—and let’s face it, they change all the time—you’ll at least know who to reach out to.

“Let me ask you this….”

Again, use a qualifying question regarding what they use, how often they order, etc.

If you would like eight other proven response, visit here.

Remember: throughout your sales process, you get the same seven to ten objections, stalls, and put-offs over and over again.

Want to be a top producer? Then stop making up an answer to them, and “ace” them by being prepared with proven scripts.

Need More Proven Responses to the Selling Situations You Face Every Day?

ON DEMAND SALES TRAINING THAT GETS RESULTS!

If your team is struggling with call reluctance and is tired of the endless rejection they face, then get instant access to our On Demand training today. We provide the exact talk tracks, templates, and proven tools your team will be motivated to apply, all structured around an award winning comprehensive inside sales approach that gives your team the confidence to succeed in every selling situation they face today.

Unlimited License: One to 100 reps can attend for one low price!

Perfect for reps dealing with the following issues:

  • Reps struggling with call reluctance
  • Getting screened out by the gatekeeper
  • Overcoming blow off objections like, “Just email me something”
  • Identifying decision makers
  • Qualifying prospects
  • Setting call back appointments that stick
  • Giving successful presentations and dealing with objections
  • Staying motivated
Get Access Today

3 Keys to Successfully Dealing with Influencers

by mike

Influencers are key to both getting through to decision makers, and to eventually making a sale. The question is: How do you properly qualify them and get them to influence the sale in your favor?

There are three keys to successfully dealing with influencers, and the better you understand and use them, the more success you’ll have.

They are:

Key Number One: Understand exactly how much influence the influencer has.

This may seem like common sense, but you’d be surprised at how many sales reps buy into the, “Well I need to present this to…” and don’t go beyond that to qualify the influencer’s role.

To avoid that, always both assume the influencer has a voice in the decision, and then qualify her/him for that.

Use:

“And how much influence do you have in the final say on this?”

OR

“What role do you play in the final decision?”

Learning how much influence they have is crucial to the overall sales process.

Key Number Two: Make sure your influencer is sold on what you’re offering.

If it’s true that the influencer has to show this or present this to the decision maker, then they had better be sold on it themselves, right?

Use:

“Do you personally think this is something that would work for your company?”

OR

“If the (committee, boss, etc.) asked you what you think, what would you say?”

AND/OR

“And from what you’ve seen, is this something you’d recommend to the (decision maker)?”

Key Number Three: Attempt a trial close.

If they buy in to your question that they are going to recommend it, then ask:

“And do they usually go with your recommendation?”

If you get buy in here, then you can either:

  1. Set up a meeting to pitch the decision maker.
  2. Set a follow up call after they have pitched the decision maker.

Either way, learning how to do a better job at dealing with the influencer will go a long way to controlling the sale, and making more of them!

Need More Proven Responses to the Selling Situations You Face Every Day?

ON DEMAND SALES TRAINING THAT GETS RESULTS!

If your team is struggling with call reluctance and is tired of the endless rejection they face, then get instant access to our On Demand training today. We provide the exact talk tracks, templates, and proven tools your team will be motivated to apply, all structured around an award winning comprehensive inside sales approach that gives your team the confidence to succeed in every selling situation they face today.

Unlimited License: One to 100 reps can attend for one low price!

Perfect for reps dealing with the following issues:

  • Reps struggling with call reluctance
  • Getting screened out by the gatekeeper
  • Overcoming blow off objections like, “Just email me something”
  • Identifying decision makers
  • Qualifying prospects
  • Setting call back appointments that stick
  • Giving successful presentations and dealing with objections
  • Staying motivated
Get Access Today

Building Value during the Price Objection

by mike

How many times have you been told to build value when you get the price objection?

Managers tell reps to stress the quality, the warranty, the features and benefits, but your prospects have heard all that before, haven’t they? 

Want a better way?

Often times, services and products are roughly the same, and prospects will buy from the people they like, know or trust. 

What often makes the difference is your enthusiasm and belief in your company and what you’re selling.

Recognizing this, I often use the following script to not only build value in my product or service, but also to build value in the most important part of my product—myself. 

Here’s what to say:

If your prospects say, “I can get cheaper,” or “Well the XYZ company has something similar for less money,” or anything like that, say:

“You know _________ I’m aware of all the other options for this (product or service) and I’ll tell you now, if I thought any of them were better for my clients, I’d be working there and selling those.

“When I got into this industry I did my own research, just like you’re doing now, and I looked for the company that not only offered the best (product or service) but also delivered the best customer service and follow-up. 

“And these are the things you look for as well, right?”

“And after all that, I chose (your company) because they give my clients the best overall value and the best experience. And that means my clients continue to do business with me and refer new business to me as well.

__________, if there was a better product or company for you to do business with, I’d be there selling it. But there isn’t.

“Bottom line—if you want the best overall value, the best results and experience with this (your product or service) then do what I did—choose (your company)—you’ll be happy you did. 

“Now, do you want to start with the X size order or would the Y size order be better?”

This technique builds value in the most important part of any sales transaction—you and your belief in your product or service. 

[BTW: If you didn’t do research into competing companies, then let the prospect know why you did choose your company and what you like so much about working there and offering that product.]

Adapt this script to fit your personality, product, and company, and then get in the habit of using it whenever you feel the need to build more value.

Want 500 more word-for-word scripts? Click Here.

Need More Proven Responses to the Selling Situations You Face Every Day?

ON DEMAND SALES TRAINING THAT GETS RESULTS!

If your team is struggling with call reluctance and is tired of the endless rejection they face, then get instant access to our On Demand training today. We provide the exact talk tracks, templates, and proven tools your team will be motivated to apply, all structured around an award winning comprehensive inside sales approach that gives your team the confidence to succeed in every selling situation they face today.

Unlimited License: One to 100 reps can attend for one low price!

Perfect for reps dealing with the following issues:

  • Reps struggling with call reluctance
  • Getting screened out by the gatekeeper
  • Overcoming blow off objections like, “Just email me something”
  • Identifying decision makers
  • Qualifying prospects
  • Setting call back appointments that stick
  • Giving successful presentations and dealing with objections
  • Staying motivated
Get Access Today

One Great Close You Should Be Using

by mike

How do you handle the following two big objections?

“Your price is too high.”

“I can get a better deal/rate/price using XYZ”

Arguably, these may be the two most frustrating objections sales reps get, and interestingly, there is one technique that works amazingly well—but few sales reps use it.

Instead, the vast majority of reps stumble when they get these objections, or worse: they lower their prices to try to compete.

The best way to handle this is to…

Isolate it! Just like you should do with most objections.

Here is the easiest way to do this:

Whenever you get either of the two objections above, simply respond with:

“In addition to price, what else is important to you?”

OR

“In addition to price, what else is holding you back today?”

Then hit that oh-so-important MUTE button, and let your prospect tell you how to sell them.

That’s it!

For those of you thinking this is too easy, I challenge you to use it for the next month each time you get this objection.

You’ll be amazed at what you hear—and how much further you can take your prospects…

Need More Proven Responses to the Selling Situations You Face Every Day?

ON DEMAND SALES TRAINING THAT GETS RESULTS!

If your team is struggling with call reluctance and is tired of the endless rejection they face, then get instant access to our On Demand training today. We provide the exact talk tracks, templates, and proven tools your team will be motivated to apply, all structured around an award winning comprehensive inside sales approach that gives your team the confidence to succeed in every selling situation they face today.

Unlimited License: One to 100 reps can attend for one low price!

Perfect for reps dealing with the following issues:

  • Reps struggling with call reluctance
  • Getting screened out by the gatekeeper
  • Overcoming blow off objections like, “Just email me something”
  • Identifying decision makers
  • Qualifying prospects
  • Setting call back appointments that stick
  • Giving successful presentations and dealing with objections
  • Staying motivated
Get Access Today

“I Need to Think About It.”

by mike

If this objection frustrates you, then all that will end after you read this blog post.

First, remember: Most objections are smokescreens hiding the real reason a prospect isn’t moving forward.

Real objections can include things like:

  • They can get it cheaper somewhere else.
  • Their boss/spouse/purchasing won’t let them buy.
  • They like a different solution.
  • And many, many more reasons…

And “I want to think about it” is the perfect smokescreen.

Here’s one way I have successfully dealt with this and gotten the prospect to reveal what was really holding them back.

Pick one part of your offer (it could be the price, or the timeline for delivery, or the quality, or the guarantee, or the rate, whatever…) and say:

“That’s OK, and I’ve given you a lot to think about. Is it the price that you want to think about most?”

And then hit MUTE and listen to what your prospect reveals.

Often, they will tell you what it is, or they’ll tell you it’s something else.

And then you can deal with it!

If they say, “No,” then say, “OH?” and remain quiet—and listen to what they reveal.

Once you know what is really keeping your prospect from working with you, then you can deal with the real objection behind the smokescreen: “I want to think about it.”

Script this out for your product or service. Role play it in meetings. And then use it for a month and see what you find.

If you find the real objection even half the time, you’ll be that much closer to closing more sales!

Need More Proven Responses to the Selling Situations You Face Every Day?

ON DEMAND SALES TRAINING THAT GETS RESULTS!

If your team is struggling with call reluctance and is tired of the endless rejection they face, then get instant access to our On Demand training today. We provide the exact talk tracks, templates, and proven tools your team will be motivated to apply, all structured around an award winning comprehensive inside sales approach that gives your team the confidence to succeed in every selling situation they face today.

Unlimited License: One to 100 reps can attend for one low price!

Perfect for reps dealing with the following issues:

  • Reps struggling with call reluctance
  • Getting screened out by the gatekeeper
  • Overcoming blow off objections like, “Just email me something”
  • Identifying decision makers
  • Qualifying prospects
  • Setting call back appointments that stick
  • Giving successful presentations and dealing with objections
  • Staying motivated
Get Access Today

Our Award-Winning Article

by mike

In case you missed this, I received the following email last week:

Dear Mike:

The people have spoken and your article, “3 Keys to Dealing with Difficult Prospects,” has won 2nd place in our 2020 Sales Pro Central MVP Awards Social Selling category!”

I thought I’d repost it for you:

3 Keys to Dealing with Difficult Prospects

I listen to a lot of calls each week that my clients send me.

This week, I listened to a closing call from one of their reps, and here is how the prospect opened the call:

Prospect: “Let me just tell you upfront that we’re looking at a lot of different options right now of which yours is just one…”

Then: “And also, I’m not the decision maker on this, I’m just an influencer. After this, I have to take this back to the board and let them know what I think.”

Then (as if that’s not enough), “And I have a hard stop in 35 minutes, so we need to get into it…”

Nice start, huh?

Actually, it is a great start, because now you don’t have to be a salesperson and pitch, pitch, pitch (which you should never do anyway).

Here are the 3 keys to handling this type of prospect:

Key #1: When he opened with, “We’re looking at a lot of different options of which yours is just one…”

The key here is to address this and use it to your advantage. I would have responded by saying:

“That’s great. Let’s do this then. Why don’t you tell me which option you like best so far, tell me what you like about it so much, and then I’ll let you know if our program can match that or even give you more.”

Then hit I’d hit mute and let them talk.

Key #2: When he says, “I’m just an influencer—not the decision maker,” I would have again addressed it right then by saying:

“Thanks for letting me know. Does the decision maker take your advice—in other words—is your influence something that will sway the final decision?”

And if he then dodged that by saying something like, “Yeah, but it’s up to them,” I’d have layered my question with:

“And from what you know, what exactly are they looking for? In other words, what do they need to see from all these options to say yes?”

Key #3: And as far as the, “I have a hard stop in 35 minutes,” I would have responded with:

“Thanks for the head’s up. Tell you what, since I have a ton of info to give you, let’s streamline this and you tell me what’s most important to you, and I’ll show you how we handle that.”

And I’d hit mute again.

Here’s what I teach:

  1. Prospects have all the answers. It’s best to listen, question, and let them reveal those answers.
  2. Take what a prospect gives you. The key here is you need to listen! If you do, then you can respond to what they tell you and get more information and learn the direction you need to go in.
  3. Meet someone where they are, like with this prospect. You need to match them. Take your sales hat off and play their game. Don’t be afraid to be as abrupt as they are—they’ll appreciate it.

Keep these keys handy the next you run into a difficult prospect. They’ll work better than you think they will.

Need More Proven Responses to the Selling Situations You Face Every Day?

ON DEMAND SALES TRAINING THAT GETS RESULTS!

If your team is struggling with call reluctance and is tired of the endless rejection they face, then get instant access to our On Demand training today. We provide the exact talk tracks, templates, and proven tools your team will be motivated to apply, all structured around an award winning comprehensive inside sales approach that gives your team the confidence to succeed in every selling situation they face today.

Unlimited License: One to 100 reps can attend for one low price!

Perfect for reps dealing with the following issues:

  • Reps struggling with call reluctance
  • Getting screened out by the gatekeeper
  • Overcoming blow off objections like, “Just email me something”
  • Identifying decision makers
  • Qualifying prospects
  • Setting call back appointments that stick
  • Giving successful presentations and dealing with objections
  • Staying motivated
Get Access Today

Getting Buy-In Before Discussing Price

by mike

If your sales process involves giving a presentation (virtual or otherwise), and at the end of it you provide pricing options and then close, then this article is for you.

There are certain steps you must follow to ensure that when you do get to the pricing/budget part of your close, you’ll be able to focus on the pricing options—instead of wondering if someone is sold first.

To review some best practices on giving a sales presentation—virtual or otherwise—here is a quick checklist for you:

  • Start by requalifying to confirm buying motives—including timeframe.
  • During the presentation, use tie-downs (open ended!) go get feedback.
  • Three quarter way through, switch to trial closes.
  • At the end of your presentation, ask a series of quick questions before you go over pricing options…
  • Go over pricing and close.

The most important step to get right is to:

Get buy in from your prospect before you go into pricing!

The reason this is important is that it’s easy for prospects to hide behind the, “Oh, that’s too much money for us.”

And when they do, you’re likely to do the absolute wrong thing: Drop your price or make a deal for less time, etc.

And guess what? They still won’t buy or they will just put you off!

You know why?

Because they’re not sold on your product or service to begin with, and you didn’t find that out.

Because you didn’t get buy-in before you went into pricing.

So, here is how to make sure someone is sold (bought-in) when you’ve finished your presentation but before pricing:

“So _______, I know I’ve given you a lot of information, but based on what you’ve seen so far, does this sound like a program/service/product that would get you the results you’re looking for?”

Now, the above is a generic statement which I encourage you to customize to fit your industry—and to even fit your prospect’s unique buying motives.

But the bottom line is that if you haven’t verified buy-in, in other words made sure your prospect is sold on your product or service, then going to the pricing and hoping for the best won’t get you very far.

Use the above question first—and then either discuss why they aren’t sold (and get them sold), or confidently go into pricing and close.

Want more help? Enroll your team into my On-Demand Training here.

Need More Proven Responses to the Selling Situations You Face Every Day?

ON DEMAND SALES TRAINING THAT GETS RESULTS!

If your team is struggling with call reluctance and is tired of the endless rejection they face, then get instant access to our On Demand training today. We provide the exact talk tracks, templates, and proven tools your team will be motivated to apply, all structured around an award winning comprehensive inside sales approach that gives your team the confidence to succeed in every selling situation they face today.

Unlimited License: One to 100 reps can attend for one low price!

Perfect for reps dealing with the following issues:

  • Reps struggling with call reluctance
  • Getting screened out by the gatekeeper
  • Overcoming blow off objections like, “Just email me something”
  • Identifying decision makers
  • Qualifying prospects
  • Setting call back appointments that stick
  • Giving successful presentations and dealing with objections
  • Staying motivated
Get Access Today

How to Handle the Email: “We’re Going to Hold Off for Now”

by mike

When following up with a prospect after delivering a presentation, does this kind of email sound familiar?

“Thanks for contacting me, but I’ve checked with the powers that be, and we’re just not going to do anything until (Fall, 2020, OR next year, 2021, OR maybe even 2022).”

Disappointing, isn’t it?

There is one burning question that should be at the top of your mind:

What is behind this stall?

Remember a truth in sales: Behind every stall or objection, there often lies the real objection. Stalls like the email above are often called, “smokescreens,” because they hide that real objection.

The first thing you need to do is get behind that smokescreen and find out if your prospect is even sold first.

In other words, you should be thinking to yourself, “Well, when that times comes, were you impressed enough with what I presented to you that you’d either recommend this to “the powers that be,” or would you be inclined to move forward with it yourself?”

Now remember: I said: This is what you should be thinking.

Your next step after you get an email like this is to either:

A) Get them on the phone and ask them, or

B) Structure an email response which gets them to reveal this.

Why? Because if they aren’t sold, and this is just a smokescreen, then you’ll get nowhere using any other approach.

Here’s your script for this:

By Phone: (Note: Call the prospect 5 to 7 times without leaving a voice mail. Your goal is to catch them live on picking up the phone if possible):

“Hi ________, this is _______ _______ with ________, how are you doing?”

[Listen to their response here. Are they receptive to you?]

“I got your email and no worries! The timing has to be right, of course….

“Quick question: Just out of curiosity, when things do get back to normal for you, based on everything we went over—you know, on what you know about what we offer—did we sound like the solution you think would work for you?”

OR

“Did the “powers that be” give you an indication of that they thought about our service?”

Again: You must get buy in first to see if they are even interested in your service/product.

By Email: (If you can’t reach them by phone, then use this):

Hi…

Thank you so much for getting back with me!

No worries on timing—I completely understand.

Quick question: What were your thoughts on the presentation itself and what we offered?

In other words, when things do get back to normal, would you be recommending us to the powers that be?”

Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

Signed….

Finally: Remember, even in this time of Covid-19 when stalls are coming to us fast and furiously, you must stick to sales fundamentals.

These responses will help you do just that.

Need More Proven Responses to the Selling Situations You Face Every Day?

ON DEMAND SALES TRAINING THAT GETS RESULTS!

If your team is struggling with call reluctance and is tired of the endless rejection they face, then get instant access to our On Demand training today. We provide the exact talk tracks, templates, and proven tools your team will be motivated to apply, all structured around an award winning comprehensive inside sales approach that gives your team the confidence to succeed in every selling situation they face today.

Unlimited License: One to 100 reps can attend for one low price!

Perfect for reps dealing with the following issues:

  • Reps struggling with call reluctance
  • Getting screened out by the gatekeeper
  • Overcoming blow off objections like, “Just email me something”
  • Identifying decision makers
  • Qualifying prospects
  • Setting call back appointments that stick
  • Giving successful presentations and dealing with objections
  • Staying motivated
Get Access Today

Handling Covid-19 Stalls via Email

by mike

Do any of these email responses from prospects or customers sound familiar?

“Everything is on hold right now.”

“Due to the circumstances, we just don’t have the budget right now.”

“We’re not making any decisions right now.”

“This just isn’t a good time for us—I’m sure you can understand.”

What all these responses have in common is that they are just common stalls. Oh sure, the circumstances might be new (the Covid-19 pandemic is certainly new!), but in essence, these objections are the same kinds of stalls you usually get.

“Not a good time,” “Don’t have the budget,” “Not making decisions right now,” are responses you get during your normal sales process, aren’t they?

So, how should you handle these stalls now? Using the same best practice approach you should always be using: You should isolate these objections.

What do you really want to know given these stalls or objections? You want to know:

“If you did have the budget, is our product or service the one you would choose?” and,

“When the time is right to make these kinds of decisions again, would you seriously consider our solution?” and,

“When circumstances change, are you interested enough in our solution to choose us?”

That’s how you should respond when you get these kinds of email stalls during this pandemic.

Of course, you’ll want to soften your response by showing empathy for what your prospect or client is going through.

Here are a couple of good, all purpose, email responses you can customize to each of the situations above:

Dear Prospect:

Thanks for your response and no worries about budget at this time.

We work with many companies like yours, and the timing must make sense—both budget wise as well as what your current needs are.

Quick question: Putting budget aside for a moment, I’m wondering if it makes sense to pursue our conversation in the future based on what you know about how we work?

In other words, if and when budget does become available, is our (product or solution) something you find enough value in to speak about another time?

Another example:

Dear Prospect,

Good to hear you’re keeping well.

I understand that things may be on hold for now but was wondering: How do you feel about what we covered in our demo last week?

Do you feel this had value for you?

Let me know so I can follow up appropriately.

Thanks…

As you can see by these sample responses, what we’re doing is side-stepping their objection or stall so you can determine whether or not they have a genuine interest in your product or service.

Until you know that, you’ll just be chasing your tail.

And that doesn’t feel good in any sales climate…

Need More Proven Responses to the Selling Situations You Face Every Day?

ON DEMAND SALES TRAINING THAT GETS RESULTS!

If your team is struggling with call reluctance and is tired of the endless rejection they face, then get instant access to our On Demand training today. We provide the exact talk tracks, templates, and proven tools your team will be motivated to apply, all structured around an award winning comprehensive inside sales approach that gives your team the confidence to succeed in every selling situation they face today.

Unlimited License: One to 100 reps can attend for one low price!

Perfect for reps dealing with the following issues:

  • Reps struggling with call reluctance
  • Getting screened out by the gatekeeper
  • Overcoming blow off objections like, “Just email me something”
  • Identifying decision makers
  • Qualifying prospects
  • Setting call back appointments that stick
  • Giving successful presentations and dealing with objections
  • Staying motivated
Get Access Today