Work with customer objections: basic principles

Customer objections arise as a result of an illiterate thought-out proposal for the sale of goods. Therefore, marketers are trying to prevent possible objections of the buyer at the initial stage. Specialists think over all the details of the proposal and the needs of consumers, and then competently explain and describe to the client the essence of the proposal.

Difficult clients, work with objections - these are the problems that all sales agents face. What should I do if there is still negation and objection from the consumer? Working with customer objections is that you need to feel the customer himself, understand the reason for the disagreements and overcome them in the future.

Work with objections

Work with customer objections is to identify the consumer’s position and overcome disagreements regarding the offer. There are five basic rules for solving this problem:

1. Listen to the interlocutor. This is the main stage in the field of sales. The seller must carefully listen to the opinion of the consumer. Only in this way can a person be attracted to himself and arouse a certain sympathy.
2. Accept customer protest. But accepting does not mean agreeing. At this stage, it is important to show that the fears are understandable and the seller is not indifferent to the fears of the client.
3. Verification Here it is necessary to understand what the consumer disagreement means. This may be an excuse or disagreement due to a misunderstanding. Maybe the client does not agree with the proposal only in order to quickly get rid of the annoying consultant. In this situation, you should find out the true motivation of the buyer in case of failure.
4. Concretization. In order for this stage to be implemented, and the client took the side of the seller, it is necessary to ask clarifying and leading questions. These questions will help to understand the essence of consumer objections. At this moment, you need to show your professionalism, which will help to win over a person. At this stage, work is underway with doubts and objections of the client, where the outcome of the transaction depends on the effect.
5. Argumentation. All arguments must be confirmed and proven. Reliable facts will not leave doubts about the need and real need for the purchase of this product.

In addition to the basic rules, a successful manager should know that during a conversation you should never argue with a buyer. The dispute will provoke aggression among the interlocutor, make him become in a firm position, from which it will be very difficult to move him. And then all the work of the sales manager will go down the drain.

There are situations when the seller, seeing the client’s doubts, ceases to conduct active actions and goes into waiting. And at this moment, the buyer regards such silence as the fact that the seller has nothing more to add about the product. Doubts intensify, he tries to quickly get rid of the annoying manager.

An experienced salesperson knows that justification is uncertainty about product quality. Therefore, an excuse or a drop of uncertainty in the client can cause distrust of the proposed product. Working with customer objections requires an introspection manager after the transaction. Trainings, different techniques and rules help to correctly and efficiently conduct transactions in the future and accumulate really useful experience.

Effective Sales Technique

Back in the 20th century, N. Rekhamov, based on his research, developed an innovative and effective sales method that is used today in many companies. SPIN sales is a special effective sales technique based on four types of questions.Very often today, this technique is used by successful managers. Work with customer objections according to N. Rekhamov’s methodology is based on:

1. Issues are situational. They carry an informational character. They will help to establish contact with a potential buyer and understand his needs, as well as features. There should not be a lot of them, since questions are only the initial stage in the sale.
2. Questions of a problematic nature. They help to understand the dissatisfaction of the interlocutor, which causes a desire to acquire what he grabs. These are the main issues without which it is impossible to build an effective sales methodology. At this stage, it should be made clear to the client that the proposed service or product will help to cope with problems.
3. Extractive questions. Show all the positive aspects in the purchase of goods.
4. Guiding questions. Once the consumer has understood his problem and its consequences, it is time to propose a solution to the problem. These are issues where the client himself begins to present the product and describe its positive qualities.

The technology of working with customer objections, which is based on questions, is an effective sales strategy, since any question will not be left unanswered.

Work with customer disagreement in sales

Even if a connection has been made, the problems and needs of the client have become clear, anyway there may still be a denial of the product on his part. The rules of working with customer objections in sales are a relaxed conversation, with a smile, jokes, compliments towards the potential consumer and with positive emotions.

Why does the client mind? Maybe he's in a bad mood today or a problem day? Or maybe he just wants to lower the price? There can be many reasons; the sales representative needs to overcome them. It should be remembered that at this moment you can’t push or press on the client, as he may feel uncomfortable and leave. Work with customer doubts and objections in sales is based on the basic rules:

1. The consumer should perceive the trading manager as his own partner. Each manager should treat the client as an interlocutor who can further pursue common interests. Therefore, a professional treats the client’s objection with joy and understanding, because he shares his concerns and fears. In no case can you fight protest, because such tactics will not lead to the implementation of the sales plan. The customer will always be right.
2. Emotional contact is fundamental to the foundation in cooperation with the client. The stronger the emotional bond, the better the collaboration. At this moment, confidence in a stranger arises and even if disagreements arise, the arguments and facts of the seller, during the established emotional contact, will be convincing for the client.
3. The sales representative must collect as much information as possible about the needs and needs of his client. This will help to make an offer the way the buyer himself needs. There will be less doubt and protest if the offer is consistent with the expectations of the client.
4. The fourth rule is based on clarifying the very meaning of denial. A professional seller will always inquire about the reason for the refusal. This will help improve relations with the buyer and not cause him an inadequate reaction.
5. Search for the true motive for a negative reaction to the proposed product. To do this, ask leading questions. They can be formulated in the following form: “Does this reason stop you from acquiring the product or is there something else?” Or “What stops you or scares you from the offer?” Etc.
6. Since the dispute will not lead to anything, the client’s thoughts and statements should be sent in the right direction, necessary for the sales manager. That is, this tactic is based on agreement with the objection, and then the translation of this thought in the right direction.
7. A sales representative must be convincing and confident in their product. During the presentation, you should use metaphors and quotes, support your statements with facts and data from statistics. This will increase the credibility of the product.

In terms of facts, all protests from the consumer are reduced to zero. Dealing with customer objections in sales consists in understanding customer problems, goodwill and in a friendly location. This will help to establish partnerships and push the buyer to make a choice in the direction of a professional sales representative.

Step-by-step algorithm of work of a professional sales manager

The technology of working with customer objections is needed in order to build a certain consistent algorithm in working with consumer protests. The main algorithm consists of 4 actions:

1. Give an opportunity to speak. Having carefully listened to all the statements, you can understand the needs of the interlocutor. This will give the client the opportunity to enter the stage of calm.
2. At the psychological level, make an introduction to the protest. Thus, the client understands that his protest and personal opinion have a right to exist.
3. Accurate, reliable answers or leading questions. This is an opportunity to give more reasoning facts and arouse the desire to purchase a profitable product.
4. Provoke a customer to buy.

Thanks to this algorithm, you can find effective ways to work with client objections.

Work with clients by phone

Work with customer objections by phone, examples of such contact can be carried out through cold calls. When applying this technology, it is important to consider all conditions.

Telephone sales have their advantages. This saves time and money on travel. There is no need to prepare an appropriate business suit and it is possible to use pre-prepared tips. During a telephone conversation, the seller knows for sure that the information was conveyed to the customer, and also understands the customer's reaction to the proposed product. This is much better than conducting e-mail correspondence, where such negotiations can drag on for a long time or not produce results at all. Such conversations cause less pressure on the potential consumer, which gives him the opportunity to perceive information much more calmly than in a personal meeting.

Negative consequences of working with objections by phone

Work with customer objections, based on telephone conversations, can carry negative consequences. During the call, the client can regard the manager’s proposals as an obstacle that prevents him from concentrating on work or on performing some other actions. During such a conversation, it will be much easier for the buyer to interrupt the conversation by simply hanging up the telephone.

In addition, the disadvantage of a cold call is that it is impossible to trace the facial expressions and body language of the buyer. It remains only to listen carefully and understand the intonation of the voice. There is a much greater likelihood that the client will not understand the proposed information and refuse it. It must be remembered that most of the conversation should be occupied by the speech of the seller and only a small part is the speech of the client. This means that it is a professional consultant who should set the tone for the conversation and direct it in the necessary direction.

The correct and confident speech of the consultant, politeness and good breeding can play an important role during a cold call. The seller must be aware that thanks to him the client will have an opinion and first impression of the company.

Principles of working with customer objections by phone

As in a personal meeting, you must remember the rules of sales. Basic rules for telephone sales:

• thanks to the charisma and emphasis of speech, it is necessary to capture the attention of the buyer already in the first minutes of the conversation;
• after attracting attention, you should find out the needs of the interlocutor, by skipping this item you can easily lose the client;
• only at the third stage it is necessary to proceed to the presentation of the trading proposal;
• after the client hears the offer, objections or refusals may arise, objections can be overcome by the adjustment method - this is such a method when the seller, by adjusting to the client’s intonation, can position him and bring the deal to the end.

The sales agent must understand that the goal of a cold call is to sell the company's products, and the implementation of the task depends on how he conducts the conversation.

Work with customer objections in the bank

The problem with customer objections also arises in the banking sector. Difficult clients, working with objections and how to build the right algorithm for the sale of banking services? All these questions arise from managers during the sale of banking products.

To attract customers, most banks print bundles of advertising booklets and conduct promotions. But, unfortunately, today there are few companies that use the easiest way to sell - this is working with objections. Despite the fact that now many courses, master classes are open and a large number of scripts have been written, most of the sales representatives of banking products do not know how to properly deal with customer objections.

In order to understand the mistakes of bank employees, you need to analyze their actions. The main mistakes when working with objections are as follows:

• the employee immediately releases the client as soon as he hears objections from him;
• the consultant enters into a dispute with the buyer and tries to prove his wrong;
• the seller’s lack of reaction to the customer’s protest;
• attempt to bring illiterate and inaccurate arguments;
• a situation where an employee is trying to educate a consumer, by this he beats the pride of a potential customer.

Such errors and problems arise to a greater extent among beginners. As soon as they undergo special training, their sales level will increase significantly.

Principles of work with customer objections in the bank

At bank trainings and master classes, they work out standard work with protests and disagreement, and work with client’s objections is considered. Basic principles:

1. All objections must be asked a question. This will help simplify work with the client. Despite the fact that it is not difficult to ask the right question for objections, many employees have problems at the initial stage.
2. Paraphrasing client thoughts in other words. This will show the buyer that he was heard and that further dialogue can be conducted.
3. Highlighting client’s thoughts and agreeing with them. This will help the seller to win over the client on an emotional level and make him listen to the consultant's arguments about the benefits of the goods being sold.
4. Argumentation of one’s position. It is necessary to make several arguments in favor of the product. It must be remembered that all arguments should be pointed at the consumer and the solution of his problems.
5. Awaken the action of the client. This is a very important point. If this step is skipped, the sales representative will not be able to sell the company's product. It can be: a pre-filled questionnaire; the client leaves his contact details for further cooperation; makes a copy of documents for the bank.

Work with customers in the online store

In e-commerce, there are also objections and disagreements of the buyer. Working with customer objections in the online store requires a special technique and a professional approach. Most people do not get anything when they first visit the site, because they are not familiar with this company and cannot immediately make decisions. Commercial purchases always cause great distrust on the part of the consumer.

The goal of every marketer on the Internet is that he needs to exclude all possible objections in advance and position the client to the site.This is how the work with the client’s objections is built on the Internet. The main ones are:

1. High price. This is the main reason for rejecting the proposed product. In this case, it is necessary to convince the client that the money will not be wasted and that the goods will bring great benefits to the consumer.
2. Difficulty using a webpage. It is necessary to develop software so that any person can easily get acquainted with the product and purchase it.
3. No warranty at time of purchase. This requires satisfied customers to post their reviews about the seller and his work.
4. Lack of urgent need. To solve this problem, sellers and competent marketers come up with promotions with good discounts for a certain time. This helps speed up the decision to purchase the goods.

All of the above methods will help prevent objections and provoke the buyer to action. By eliminating the consumer's doubts, the seller will not leave the opportunity to refuse a profitable offer.