them.” Keep that phrase in the forefront of your brain with every client contact.
Let’s go into greater depth on some of those common fears you’ll encounter with your potential clients:
1. Being lied to. Let’s face it, the stereotype of the salesperson isn’t a very positive one. On television and in the movies, salespeople are typically portrayed as being pushy, aggressive, and saying whatever it takes to make the sale. Yes, this includes lying to buyers. Sadly, the good guys in sales don’t make compelling characters. Because of that, we enter every sales process having to break down the buyer’s pre-conceived notions about us. We have to prove ourselves every step of the way – not just demonstrate our product’s benefits, but prove ourselves. We have to say what we’re going to do, then do it. Then, we sometimes even have to point out to the buyer that we did it. All this is to break down sales resistance and build trust. People won’t buy from you if they don’t trust you. End of story.
On the other side of that coin is the fear we, as salespeople, have that buyers aren’t telling us the whole truth. Have you ever had someone indicate that he or she was the decision-maker only to learn that they had to have someone else approve a purchase order? Have you ever been tested by someone with unrealistic demands only to learn they were trying to see how far you’d go to get the sale? So, there’s fear on both sides of the selling equation. Our goal is to help you address it head on so you can make headway in the sales process faster than you’re doing it now.
2. Making poor decisions. We don’t know about you, but your authors have made their fair share of poor decisions. There was that corporate jet that Tom decided wasn’t worth the monthly upkeep. There was that employee Dan hired who was less than honest. There was that customer who wasn’t properly qualified when exceptions were made regarding their orders—the ones they later canceled.
Making a poor decision—especially one that’s visible to those around you—causes you to lose face, doesn’t it? You feel bad about that decision. Then, you start doubting other decisions you’ve made. The next thing you know, you’re hyper-sensitive to making any decision at all. Many of your buyers will feel that way. You’ll need to expect their hesitation and ask questions that get them to open up about what’s holding them back. Be sure they know you aren’t trying to dig up the dirt on all their past bad decisions, but to help them make a wise decision in the current situation with regard to your product.
3. Losing or wasting money. When money is considered to be lost or wasted on your type of product, sales resistance will be at an all-time high. You’ll have to break down barriers to show that you’re different from that other company; your product is much-improved over that other product; or, that your new product covers all those anticipated, but not gained, benefits…or that it’s built to last longer…or whatever. Circumstances where buyers feel their money was wasted were the birth of all those clichés such as “throwing good money after bad,” “tossing money out the window,” and “flushing money down the toilet.” Your job is to demonstrate that the value of owning your product is greater than the value of keeping their money.
On the salesperson’s side of this fear is the fear of offering a price reduction just to get the sale, then finding out the client had more room in their budget. Before going down that path, ask your buyer this question: “What needs to happen for you to take the next step today?” Their hesitation might have nothing to do with the financial aspects of the sale. When you have some flexibility in the amount you ask for your product, make a price reduction the absolute last resort.
4. Owing money. This fear goes back to biblical times. In Proverbs 22:8 it says, “The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender.” No one wants to be enslaved by their debts. Even though debtor’s prisons have been long gone, those with a lot of debt often feel as if they’re only working to pay their debts. Those debts weigh heavily on them mentally and emotionally. If you’re selling a product that is usually financed, you’ll want to be able to demonstrate a return on investment that allows the buyer to not only payoff the debt quickly, but to end up gaining financially because of the purchase.
No sale is complete until the paperwork is finalized, the product is delivered, money changes hands, and the client is delighted. In each of those steps there’s an opportunity for misunderstanding, hesitation, and for old Mr. Fear to raise his ugly head. You could fail anywhere along the way. The buyers could change their minds and cancel or delay the sale. Or worse, they could take the product and discover it wasn’t what they needed at all—then you get to share in their misery and dissatisfaction as they return it or cancel future orders.
The fear of having an unhappy client ruin your chances with other clients is very real. And with social media as an outlet word can get out to a large number of people very quickly about a client’s dissatisfaction with you, your company, your product or your industry as a whole. If you doubt that can happen to you, consider the 2017 incident with United Airlines. We’re pretty sure that morning no one on either side of that debacle anticipated how the day would unfold and the long-term damage that would be done.
So, how do sales pros handle all that potential fear? They face it head on. They anticipate a wide variety of objections or concerns. They preplan, prepare, and practice how they’ll address every type of fear they encounter. They commit to being flexible enough to allow for some creativity in working with clients who have fears they haven’t previously encountered.
And, they ask a lot of questions.
Asking instead of telling is the most critical concept to grasp in selling. The person who is asking the questions controls the direction of the conversation. And, when their questions get answered, they gain new knowledge that will help them figure out how to meet the needs of their buyers. This is consistent in both online and offline selling.
When you’re “telling,” you’re only covering information you already know. When you ask questions to get your potential clients to communicate their thoughts, needs, and concerns, you’re gaining new knowledge. That new knowledge will help you determine what direction to go next in your communications.
When buyers ask questions, that’s a buying sign. No one will waste their time asking questions about something in which they have no interest.
Activity Goals
As part of your mindset development, it’s important to make commitments with yourself and to hold yourself accountable. That includes how much time and effort you’ll be putting into selling. What are you willing to do to achieve the success of your dreams? What must you do? Activity leads to productivity as long as it’s the right activity.
[Tom sidebar]
Early in my sales career, I would leave my home early in the morning, and return late in the evenings. I was busy all the time, trying to find people who wanted to sell their homes, and others interested in buying property. It wasn’t until I started analyzing the results I was getting that I understood how much time I was wasting being busy at tasks that didn’t lead to listings or sales.
I decided that I needed to focus, and created what I called my “Daily Activity Graph.” It was a list of activities that led to actions being taken by potential clients or further communications with them. I assigned points for each activity I completed. These included such things as contacting a “For Sale by Owner,” knocking doors, setting or going on listing appointments, getting new leads from open houses, sending thank you notes, or other information specific to listing or selling a property. I was motivated to accumulate a certain number of points each day because I knew they were for activities that led to business.
Any time I felt myself starting to slump, I would look back at my activity. It never failed that when
