In sales, as in life, there will be times when you encounter people who throw up (unconscious) barriers or resistance even when your intent is to be helpful – to sell them something that could dramatically increase their business results or to improve their personal condition.
Often, this shows up in the language they use in the form of absolute or permanent statements.
“I/we/you always do this…” “Salespeople always do this…”
“I/we/you never do this…” “I/we/you could/would never do this…”
“If you want my business you must do this.” “I must have three references to speak with.” “If you love me you must…”
“You should always…” “I should send my customer a proposal when they ask.” “You should be grateful that I...”
These are examples of a fixed position or closed mindset.
People speaking these have created a set of extreme beliefs and rules to be met which are inflexible, hard to achieve and may cause them disappointment on a regular basis.
Often, they will have set these unintentionally, or inherited these rules or beliefs from someone else. The important point is that they may be unaware that they have set these up and that these rules may not serve them.
Responding by pushing back and telling the person making these statements that they are incorrect or why you cannot comply only serves to make them dig into their position even more.
For example:
“Salespeople always do this…” “Hmm, it sounds like you’ve had some negatives experiences with salespeople. Can you think of an instance when a salesperson didn’t do that? What were the circumstances?”
“We would never work with a company of that size.” “It sounds like you have sound reasons for doing so. Tell me, was there ever a time when you did work with companies of that size – and what were the circumstances that made that possible.”
“I/we must have three references to speak with.” “I understand. Can you think of a time when only one or two references sufficed to make you comfortable proceeding?”
“You should send me a proposal so that I can share with other stakeholders.” “I’d be happy to send you a proposal. And knowing that the other stakeholders haven’t been involved in our conversations and therefore will have no emotional connection to this project, what do you think is the risk of getting a ‘not invented here’ reaction? Have you ever had proposals turned down before?”
If you find that your salespeople often get derailed by customer objections or behaviours (talking price, proposing/quoting too soon) and don’t have the skills or linguistics to artfully handle these situations - and you’ve been struggling with these issues for more than 30 days, it’s time to get outside help. Give me a call.