http://youtu.be/BBRGl4h-Le4

Presented a keynote address to Crestcom International's 200+ distributors from around the world.  This was during the announcement of the new sales program that we are developing with a team of sales professionals.

How to Handle A Concern

 “We are satisfied with our current provider…” I am sure that many of us have either heard or seen this type of reply from a prospect. The key to a crisp reply is understanding and listening:

To Whom It May Concern,

We have been working with Paul Peterson for many years now. He has always done a fantastic job of offering good coverage at a fair cost. However, what sets Paul apart is his outstanding customer service and speed in accommodating our needs as a manufacturing company. Many of our staff actually employs the talents of Paul’s firm because of the level of comfort that we have with him. Over the last 10 years, there have been countless other electrical contractors knocking on our door trying to earn our business. We respectfully decline and tell them we are satisfied with our current provider; just like any happy homeowner would.
When you read this don’t you just wish that you were Paul? In the Sales Pro Professional Selling System PSS class we teach that this is a customer concern. Other sales classes might refer to it as an objection. Frankly, there is an army of salespeople that turn on their proverbial heels when this statement is made and they are out the door.

Please understand, in Sales Pro we teach that this is a good thing. We want to hear these comments. This is not an objection, it is a concern. What we want ourselves to hear is I have been using my current provider for the last 10 years and I hope my trust in them is being met with the very best in innovation and advanced technology. You see, raising issues or concerns that our firms are able to deal with up front, demonstrate our ability to provide what the customer needs today. Needs change over time. So should our investment in listening to the current needs of an organization or its people.

Here is a sad truth that you can take to the bank. The very best customers are used to using their current providers and many of them let down their guard and do not ask 

for special considerations in the form of expanded services and greater profitability. An easy example is to call your current cell phone provider and shop for a new plan today. In most cases where you may love the provider and their platform, that very firm is giving new customers off the street a better value than you currently have.

So what do you do? First acknowledge what is important to the prospect without endorsing the company. Never say, “They have a great reputation!” Why? Simple you are not their marketing department.

A better acknowledgement would be, “Being confident in your choice of vendors is extremely important as the technology advances today.” Now seek permission to probe on a limited basis. I never want to overstay my welcome as I am now on borrowed time. If I introduce a time frame I will say something like, “I will take no more than 10 minutes.”

Now I am going to explore what the current situation is.

“Tell me about the three most important factors that go into your maintaining the relationship with your current provider?”

“Please put them in order of priority for me.”

“Over time, what changes have you seen in that relationship that has kept it returning greater investment for you?”

Next I want to pick up on something the prospect says that is very important to them and look for more detail. I am looking for an opportunity.

“You said….… was important – would you expand on that for me?”

“Mmm that is very interesting. More and more of our clients are telling us the same thing.” Here I am acknowledging. (In our program we talk about the extreme importance of acknowledgement.)

Now I want to explore the effect on their business if this factor is not all that it can be.

“What have the consequences been for you to discover after the fact that you might have configured your….differently?”

“How do you feel about that?”

“How has that affected you?”

Finally I want to confirm that there is more than potential in what my firm can do for this prospect. I want to confirm that during this interaction potential has become desire to accomplish or to have something. It has become a need!

“It sounds as if you would rather have……Is that correct?”

“So you need……right?”

How do we get more time in front of our customers?

How do you get more time in front of your customer?

Yes be friendly, be nice, ask questions... Relationship building is a process. You need to know how to do it. 

If you can build relationships with people you will have an edge over those that do not. We have to proactively build relationships with people that we do not naturally connect with. That group represents about 50% of the population.

John Maxwell says that people buy from people that they like.

Business relationships are critical as it relates to trust. Sometime friendships seem that they are crossing the line. People fear getting too close.

The quality of our life is in a lot of ways connected to the how we get along with other people.

There is a relationship pyramid at each level there are less and less people. To get someone to remember your name you must remember theirs first and use it a lot so they will go and learn your name. People that are friendly with you are at the fourth level. They may not want to be friends but the connect. The fifth level is the respect level where they care about you and so forth.




The Relationship Edge: The Key to Strategic Influence and Selling Success By Jerry Acuff

These are some tools that will help you in a negotiation:
• Issues – Why are we meeting? What topics do we need to cover?
• Objectives – Both our own and the other party’s. It is also important that we rate our objectives. Are some more important than others?
• Needs and Interests – These are the underlying issues that may be motivating the other side and giving rise to what is being communicated to us.
• Concessions – What will we give up if we have to in an effort to move the process along? Customer gets what they desire and you give up what you want.
• Trade Offs – What can we provide that has value which has not previously been considered in exchange for something we could receive? Something comparable.
• Adding an Enhancement – What can we give the customer that they are asking for and give up something of low cost?
• Split the Difference – This represents part of what both parties wanted.
• Settlement Options – What do we see as a possible agreement which would work for both sides? It is important to come up with more than one option and to identify your least acceptable result.

The moment that a prospect has a price concern it signals you didn't uncover the buyers true motivation to buy your product or service. Value does not mean money. Buyers today do not purchase products and services, they buy solutions to their needs. Sales professionals ask questions to uncover the buyers emotional needs and then offer solutions to meet those needs even if it means recommending another company.

Training & Related Services Award

Albany Award Program has chosen Center-Organizational Energy for the 2013 Albany Awards in the Job Training & Related Services classification.

The Albany Award Program recognizes outstanding local businesses that serve their local market. ...Each year, we identify companies that we believe have achieved exceptional marketing success in their local community and business category. These are local companies that enhance the positive image of small business through service to their customers and community.