Bad news? Not at all. Rather than being a “no”, think of an objection as a “yes, but”. The prospect is thinking about your product but something is in the way of moving forward. Remove that obstacle and, more likely than not, you’ll close the sale. How to overcome those objections? Follow these five steps.

Step 1:

The first step in overcoming objections is to create synergy between the prospect and yourself. You want the two of you on the same team working against the objections. This generally involves agreeing with the prospect that the subject is important and then getting them to work with you to solve the problem. If a prospect says “I need to think it over”, you might say “I can certainly understand that – it’s an important decision. Please help me understand what’s of concern – is it the (then list two or three things about the product to get the ball rolling)”.

Step 2:

The second step is to get all of the objections on the table before moving forward. This will start to narrow the process towards a successful conclusion. It will also let you see patterns or similarities in the objections which can be helpful in overcoming them. Say something like “OK, we’ve identified that X is a concern, what other things do we need to look at.”

Step 3

The third step is to ask a closing question such as “We’re identified X, Y, and Z as concerns. If we’re able to correct those three things is there any other reason why you wouldn’t want (the product)?”. This will (a) gain a level of commitment or (b) move you back to a needed repeat of the second step. Objections are generally the result of one of three things – lack of information, misinformation or a deficiency in the offering (your company, product, etc.). The first two are pretty simple to solve – correct the mistaken or missing information. It’s the last one that’s more difficult.

Step 4

In the fourth step, you basically reprise the sale call concentrating on each objection in turn. Find out everything that you can about the objection (problem), demonstrate solution(s) and gain agreement that the solution solves the problem.

Think of a sale as a balance beam (like the scales of justice) between value and it’s associated cost (whether that’s actual price paid or some other factor). It’s the prospect that determines the relative weight of the items on the scale and an objection is a problem with one or more items on either side. Your job is to change the prospect’s perception so that value is equal to or greater than cost.

For instance, if a prospect says “your price is too high”, you can either demonstrate that the product is worth the price (increase the value weight) or reduce the price (lower the cost weight). If a prospect says “your product doesn’t have X”, you can either reduce the weight give to the missing value (”How often do you use X?”), increase the weight given to other values (”True, but wouldn’t you agree that Y is much more useful”), or some combination. Many salespeople find it helpful to create a list of common objections and offsets that can be used with them.

Step 5:

The fifth step is to be able to identify whether you’re dealing with an objection or an insurmountable obstacle. If the prospect needs a hydraulic lift to lift a fifty ton object and the largest lift that your company is capable of providing is rated at ten tons, no amount of sales expertise is going to lift those extra forty tons. The best that you can do is to create a relationship and move on to a more promising prospect. Conversely, those that treat all objections as obstacles are not salespeople at all in the true sense of the word.

Successful salespeople view overcoming objections as the most interesting and profitable part of their jobs. It requires thoughtful interaction with your prospect as well as quick wits. The single best way to rise to the top of the sales profession is to become an expert at overcoming objections.

Article Source: SME & Entrepreneurship Malaysia (by Dave Miller)

Rejection is the most common reasons for failure in network marketing. Every human being has the basic need for acceptance and when rejection comes, its effects are devastating. I have faced rejection and have discovered that there is life after rejection. If you have never faced rejection, then just live a little longer.

Sponsors can do a better job at preparing their new prospects for rejection much earlier on in the game. Even as early as the first presentation. Before I present solutions and tell you how you can turn rejection into something positive, let’s further explore the forms and sources of rejection. If you are married, your spouse can use this weapon against you to kill your business before you even get started.

If you have a prospect in mind and they are married, always share the business opportunity with both of them. Don’t think you will be more successful if you try to use the strategy of selling one of them on the business in hopes that they will be able to convince the other. It won’t happen. Either one or two things will happen. Your prospect will in up doing the business without the support of the spouse which leads to other problems or your prospect will end up not starting the business at all. Neither one of these scenarios are good.

Rejection from family and friends are equally devastating to anyone that has just started out in network marketing. Some of these are the same people that have told you in the past that they believe in you and will support you in all that you do. However when presented with your business opportunity, your closet friends now avoid you like the plaque. Somehow, you get conveniently left off the list of upcoming social gatherings that you use to get invited to on a regular basis.

I’m sure that you all have experienced one form of rejection at one time in your business. You were either told “No” upfront, which definitely left no room for speculation or you were told no in a more subtle way or even a more deceptive way. I believe the subtle or the deceptive “No” hurts the most.

I would like to give you some tools that I believe will reduce the casualty rate in your business or maybe you are a new network marketer that has been hit one too many times with the rejection missile.

1) Don’t tell until you learn how to tell
It is very tempting to run out and start telling everyone about your business. You are so excited about all the possibilities of unlimited income and the freedom you will have to live the life of your dreams. You never get all the information in the first presentation. Educate yourself by reading ALL of the material in your startup kit and make another appointment with your sponsor to go over any questions.
It’s OK to tell your new prospect to start making a list of everyone he or she knows but do not encourage them to start sharing about the business until they have been properly educated.

2) Become Your best Customer
I passionately believe that you should be first partaker of your product or service. The biggest mistake you can ever make is trying to convince someone when you have not been fully convinced yourself. People can sense that and will shoot you with the rejection bullet faster than you can say “MLM”. One thing I tell people that are my potential business partners, is that if they are not starting their business because they truly love the product and want to share the benefits with others, but simply in it for the money, please don’t sign up with me.

3) Don’t take rejection personal
Some people may not be in the season of their life where they are open to your opportunity. Don’t take it as a rejection of you. They just don’t see the value in it for them at the moment.

Just a little side note: You may have the best product or business opportunity in the world but unless you can help them see the value for them or their need for it, you can talk till you are blue in the face and the answer will still be no.

4) What about Your Attitude?
Finally, I believe the biggest key to overcoming rejection and not letting it overcome you, is your attitude. If you keep the focus off of yourself and always about your prospect, the no’s and no shows will be like “water off a duck’s back.”

Remember that “your attitude will determine your altitude”.

Article Source: SME & Entrepreneurship Malaysia (by Dee Foster)