In our last blog post we covered the 5 steps you must take in properly handling an objection.

Remeber the 5 steps?

Relate, Identify, Isolate, Handle and CLOSE

I will walk you through the process for what most would agree is the most common objection:

Price Too High

First off you must ask yourself, ‘Why am I getting this objection?’

You must view every objection as if there is a hole in your presentation or marketing strategy that needs revision or improvement.

Did you build enough value?

What does THIS homeowner value?

What did you show them to justify a premium price?

Is your price to high? What are they comparing my price to?

If you can’t answer to yourself the reason a homeowner should choose your service, how can they be expected to make a decision?

So now you have tightened up your pitch, asked the right questions and still got the same objection…………….

Time for the 5 steps:

RELATE- “John, I am the same way too I’m always looking for the best deals. I sometimes even buy something ONLY because it was a great bargain. (story to build rapport) I bought a three year supply of toothpaste from Costco last weekend and should see a return on that investment in about 6 months…”

IDENTIFY- “I have been in this industry long enough to know that there is always a reason someone’s price may be lower than mine, is price your only decision factor?”

ISOLATE-

• Yes- “My prices are extremely competitive, but let’s take a look at the bid to see where your money is going and ways we can agree on the amount of your investment”
• No- “Are you comfortable with myself/company/ service? (if no then handle those objections) Yes? “Great well if you are happy with everything else besides the price, let’s find an amount of work you’re comfortable with”

HANDLE-“John, the industry is very competitive right now, which means I wouldn’t still be in business if my prices and services weren’t competitive. You’ve told me you like everything about myself, my company and the work we wrote up in this bid. I can write three more bids with three different prices if you want to compare what you get for different prices.”

CLOSE-”Which package do you think is best for you?” “When are you looking to get this work started?”

The process in which you implement and follow this system will be just as beneficial as any words that are included. Having a plan for handling objects makes the sales process easy and painless for both the homeowner and your company. Don’t leave another house unless you’ve done everthing you can to earn their business; if you don’t, someone else will.

To a true salesperson, objections are opportunities. You shouldn’t ask for someone’s business unless you have done everything possible to understand and handle what objections they may have. This should be done before they tell you; or even better, before they even know they have an objection! How do you do this? ASK THEM QUESTIONS!

During every conversation, at every part of the Sales Cycle, you must have a documented script and process that can qualify and identify information a salesperson can use.

Examples of some qualifying questions to include:

1. What is the reason you are looking to upgrade/change?
2. Have you already received other estimates or bids?
3. What is yourtime frame for getting this work done?
4. Will both decisionmakers be present for your apt?
5. What has your experience been in the past?
6. What is most important to you when looking for a contractor??
7. Are you the homeowner/ only decision maker?

There’s no point selling something your prospect doesn’t want. Whether it’s a feature, solution, upgrade or product it doesn’t matter unless they care. Without asking questions and LISTENING to the answers, there is no platform to build a pitch around. If you have them in a conversation, you have their attention. KEEP IT

Every salesperson can describe features, most can demonstrate benefits; however, the BEST salespeople identify a customer’s problem while building rapport. They will then offer them a solution which will benefit the customer based on your company’s service or product.

Avoiding your prospective customer’s fear of buying is simple. Write out every reason you can think of that one of your prospects could possibly object to your service and follow our objection process below to write out a response to squash it.

Test the script with role play, if you can’t close a co-worker than revise your writing or products/services until you can. If you don’t know why they should use your service neither will they!

The Objection Process- Relate, Identify, Isolate, Handle, Close

• Truly RELATE with customers so they believe you understand them.
• Reiterate or clarify their objection to IDENTIFY what they said.
• Get their confirmation you both understand their true objection to ISOLATE it.
• HANDLE their objection.
• Ask for their business and CLOSE.

An example of how this would work:

• RELATE- “I completely understand (your objection), I am often the same way myself”
• IDENTIFY- “Just to make sure I understand, you’re saying that (objection) is the only thing holding you back?
• ISOLATE- “If (Objection) wasn’t a factor would you be comfortable giving me your business?”
• HANDLE- “Let’s find a (solution) that you’re comfortable with. I will lay out all the options there are to (overcome
  objection) and to show exactly how (your problem will be overcome).”
• CLOSE- “Which (Solution) do you think will be the best one for you? We can get started this week or next, which is better for
  you?”

Follow our blog for our next post with the Most common objections and our scripts to handle them