The new year is here, and some clients are doing business with the competition instead of you. Do you know why? The sales teams that consistently exceed expectations tend to be more aware of what is keeping them from earning business. This makes them ready for any objection potential clients may present to them. They’re then able to find a way to build trust with their clients and shift their thinking. They ask clients to have an open mind to the information, as they feel confident they can help their customer.
Most people buy on emotion and back it up with logic, and our clients are no different. The most successful team members are those who give their clients the emotional benefits of doing business with them and their company.
It has also been my experience that clients do business with those they trust! It’s the relationship you develop, along with a fair price and value. There will be times in our careers that we will face the price objection. Price is a natural objection for clients to give us, but here is the exciting news: I see opposition as an opportunity.
When a client objects to a rate, you have the chance to educate them and give them more information. It’s a way to test whether you are confident in what you’re presenting. You have been given a gift at that moment, to discuss the value and the benefits your product offers them. Perhaps they are still not convinced to move forward. Could there be a hidden objection?
When I recommended a business solutions campaign for a major automotive client, I put the investment page first in the proposal. He seemed surprised, so I explained that I thought it was vital for him to see the investment first, and then on the following pages he could discover what it would take to achieve the outcomes we discussed.
Those pages included a reminder of the result my client desired, which was to sell a specific number of new cars per month. The program I recommended detailed the strategy and timelines needed to achieve his goal. We moved away from the price and focused on his outcome of selling more cars. Our discussion became more about my client’s needs and not about where I ranked in the market with a certain demographic.
Your relationship, and your ability to think like your client, are critical. You gain a tremendous advantage over your competition when you’re able to eliminate or navigate their objection. As sales managers, it’s our responsibility to make sure our team can address any opposition that comes their way as well. I suggest you ask your team to share the top three objections they are facing. You will likely hear these responses:
You’re too expensive.
I am too busy to meet.
We don’t have the budget.
I tried radio, and it didn’t work.
Send me the information to review.
Now the fun begins. In your next sales meeting, write down the top three reasons or objections your team shared. Go around the room and ask how each of them would respond to those objections, or what strategy they would implement to build on a better relationship. Be prepared with how you might answer the objections.
Next, develop the best verbiage to overcome these roadblocks and earn the business.
In the following sales meeting, write the following words on the board: “Own the objection!” Have your team role-play with each other and practice answering each objection until it comes off naturally. You will discover where the coaching moments are with your team during this exercise, and you may need to spend additional time in your weekly one-on-ones until you know they have mastered it.
Lisa Thal is the general sales manager for Hubbard Interactive Cincinnati. She’s also the author of Three Word Meetings: A Simple Strategy to Engage, Inspire and Empower Your Team. Get it on Amazon.com.
“The result my client desired” is what I am taking from this article. The headline is what makes us read it or not, the content is what gets us to read to the end. Well done Lisa! Getting the client results is job one and it doesn’t matter if you are number 1 or 21. BTW you think the sales teams at Spotify and other disruptors are not looking to “steal” your on air clients?
The absolute main path to getting the business and keeping it is not even mentioned in this article. And Radio is ignoring it.
It would seem to me that the use of the word “steal” in the title of what Lisa Thal had to say is used as a draw to us to read what she had to say, and it worked for me. 🙂 I agree with Thom that the content was good, but to use the word steal is bit over the top. I think the use of the word “steal” denotes a lack of integrity.
While there is value and some good information contained within this article, there is no place in our industry for this headline. Radio has to stop looking at itself as competition. How to earn business from our clients and move revenue from TV and other media to Radio is our job. I just had a lengthy conversation with a colleague last night about this very subject. Our industry has cannibalized itself too long. Giant companies with heavy debt service have maintained a race to the bottom for too long. As I mentioned, the article does not reflect the headline. There is good information, but the headline has to go.