Sunday, September 27, 2009

More than a Game Show

from my email:

America's Got Talent (How to Handle Sales Objections)

Posted: 17 Sep 2009 03:26 PM PDT

Got Talent Imagine being on America's Got Talent.

"Our next act is Jane Doe, a professional sales person who is going to perform the ever popular handling objections dance."

You go out on stage and give your elevator statement to the judges.

"My company ..."

Then you ask ...

"Can we help you with ...?" or "Do you have need for ..."

The judges respond ...

"We don't have any needs" or "It is not in our budget" or "We already have someone who ..."

Three strikes and you are done.

Well it is not a television show. It is taking place thousands of times every day. Just like on the show, the sales person walks out on stage without knowing exactly what the audience wants to see. They just start performing and the prospect is just looking for reasons to push the button giving them a strike.

To be effective, turn the tables. Get the judges to perform. Suppress your natural inclination to talk about what you do, your company, your products, and your services. Ask them about their company. Learn to ask them intelligent business questions so that you can discover what your "audience" does want to see.

Start by writing down five questions that can be easily tweaked for your particular audience. Practice asking them in front of the mirror and then with your sales manager or a peer.

Soon you will find that good conversations are easier to start with prospects and that the conversations will last longer and go deeper. They will happily be performing for you.

Photo on flickr by Keys Connoisseur

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