Marketing and Sales

It is important that every sales person learn how to deal with sales objections to effectively close a business deal after delivering a sales pitch.

Sales objections are issues that prospects communicate to salespersons as reasons why they can’t purchase a product or service from them. These sales objections are a clear indication that you have more work to do as a sales person if you want to successfully seal the deal.

Every salesperson will face a sales objection at some point in their career. However, with the right strategy, it is possible to convert sales objection into an opportunity.

Here are five (5) Ways to Deal with Sales Objections:

1. Anticipate them

To successfully deal with sales objections, it is crucial that you first anticipate them. This will require you to compile a list of the various objections you can expect from prospects after pitching your sales to them. Common objections encountered by many sales persons include; customer complaint of high product cost; lack of interest in the product etc. You will be better prepared to handle sales objections if you can anticipate the objections you will likely encounter from prospects even before meeting them.

2. Welcome them

Welcoming objections means allowing prospects voice their concerns without talking over them or shutting them up. However, it is important to note that not all objections are voiced. Sometimes prospects do not speak their objections for a variety of reasons e.g. they may feel the sales person will not understand from their point of view. Nevertheless, a well-trained sales representative will be able to uncover unspoken objections and address them effectively. Prospects’ body languages for instance can reveal their objections if you pay attention to them. When you realize that your clients have unspoken objections, it is critical to bring them to light. You can do this by gently probing them with questions like; am I correct in thinking you are concerned about what I just said?

3. Keep Your Emotions in Check

It is very common to find inexperience or unskilled sales persons turn prospects voiced objections into bad arguments, quarrels or fights. When this happens, the sales person risk losing not only the sale, but also the client and any chance of forming a mutually beneficial long-term partnership. Therefore, irrespective of the prospect’s mood or manner of communication, do your best to remain calm and grounded while keeping the conversation as light and friendly as possible.

4. Affirm them

After the prospect has presented their objections, you must affirm them. Let them know you understand their concerns and want to address them in a friendly manner.
This can be accomplished by reiterating the prospect’s objections; e.g…..I understand that you feel our prizes are high; or by rephrasing them e.g. in other words, you mean our products are too expensive. This will give the client a sense that you see things from their point of view and will spur their interest to listen to what you have to say afterwards.

5. Address them

After gaining an understanding of your prospect’s objections, there are several ways to prove yourself and your product to your client depending on their objections. These include;

• Reinforcing your expertise and carefully explaining the logic behind your products and prices;
• Providing compensating benefits that outweighs the client’s objection.
• Explaining why you are qualified;
• Sharing relevant statistics that buttress the need for your product;
• Sharing testimonials from satisfied clients among others

Once you have successfully addressed sales objections, sealing the deal will be an easy task.

Read also: Essential Tips for Delivering a Successful Sales Pitch.

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A sales pitch is a line of talk used to entice a potential client into buying or using your products or services. Selling is of utmost important to the success of every organizations, hence it is a common goal of profit organizations to make sales in order to generate income.

Essential tips to consider for successful sales pitching include;

1. Research the Prospect.

Delivering a successful sales pitch begins with knowing who you are going to pitch to. People will only buy your products or services if it solves their problems or satisfy their needs. Hence, it is important that you learn about your target client; who they are, what they do, what their problems are; and be sure that your product or service meet their needs. After gathering all the necessary information about your prospect, you can begin to plan for the delivery of your sales pitch.

2. Appear Nicely.

Your look and appearance matter a lot in sales. Research has shown that people who appear nice and appropriate are more likely to close a sales deal than those who do not. Your prospect will have an expectation of you in terms of your appearance depending on what you are planning to pitch. For instance, if your pitch is for the sales of perfume products, your target will expect you to smell nicely; if your pitch is in fashion, your audience will expect you to look fashionable. Appearing nicely will not only boost your confidence but will also put you in a position of someone worthy of being respected and listened to.

3. Pitch to the Right Person.

If you are planning to sell a product to a group or an organization, it is important that you identify persons in that group or organization that are capable of making buying decisions. Pitching to just anyone in the organization e.g a receptionist who is not in position to make buying decisions may be a total waste of time; your time and the person’s time. Hence, to successfully seal a deal, identify and pitch to people that are capable of making buying decisions.

4. Demonstrate Civility and Confidence.

People will most likely receive and treat you based on your manner of approach towards them. If you want to be taken seriously, it is crucial that you demonstrate civility and confidence towards others. Demonstrating civility will require you to behave in a way that is ethical, that shows politeness, and courtesy. In addition, many people would buy a product only when they trust it; one of the ways to help people trust your product is to exhibit confidence about it.

5. Get to the Point.

In today’s world, people are far too occupied to listen to lengthy discussions. Hence, it is important that you make the most out of every opportunity you get to pitch your sales by stating only relevant information that are important and tailored to your prospects. This would require you to do the following concisely; introduce yourself; show that you have an understanding of who they are; state a problem that creates the need for your product as it relate to them; explain how your product or service best solve the stated problem or meet their needs; discuss price; seal the deal. If the prospect need additional information allow them to voice it.

In conclusion, it is important to note that after making a sales pitch, every sales person will likely come across sales objections at some point in their life. To successfully close a sales deal, it is important that you learn how to deal with sales objections and tackle them effectively.

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As a small business owner, it can be a struggle to identify where you should be focusing your marketing efforts during a pandemic. You want to generate more high-quality leads and make sure you are maximizing your return on investment, but what should you do?

Here are 5 tips that can revive your small business efforts during a pandemic.

#1. Increase your Social Media Marketing Efforts.

During a pandemic, social media marketing is the best marketing strategy for Small Businesses; this is because many consumers tend to turn to online retailers and service providers. So, if people can’t find you on at least one of the major social media networks, they will find one of your competitors.

Therefore, you must make good use of Social media. You should ensure a creative and professional social media page design and also, post useful, engaging, and interesting content on your social media channels to lure your target audience. Soon, you will get huge amount of leads from your social media platforms.

#2. Partner with other Businesses

Teamwork is always more effective than a solo effort, and combining resources with another business can help you do things you could never accomplish on your own.

This does not mean that you have to partner with people offering the same products and services as you. Rather, you can partner with people that offer services that are related to your business and may be of use to your customers.

A good example is a partnership formed between a painter and a paint manufacturer. Anybody interested in one will potentially be interested in the other. Thus, this kind of partnership gives room for referral and direct access to an already established customer base.

#3. Value Additions

This is one of the most powerful selling points for any product or service. Common value additions include guarantees, discounts for repeat customers, and referral rewards. When you are making your advertising materials, you should highlight the value additions.

They can help increase customer satisfaction and widen the gap between you and the competition, thus attracting more customers and boosting revenue and profits.

#4. Build Customer relationship

As a small business, you should build a lasting relationship with your customers, engage them with relevant information and updates about your products and services – ask them for feedback. Ask them what you can do to serve their needs better, and also do well to implement the ideas if it worth trying.

A good customer relationship rekindles business success. Most businesses especially start-ups focus more on getting new customers – Great! But a good business will do everything possible to retain the existing customers. With the existing customers, you have a great chance of getting referrals from them.
The bottom line is, build and retain your customers while you seek new leads.

#5. Identify and utilize the strategy that works best for you.

A “good” marketing strategy is going to be unique for every business. One marketing strategy never fits all business. A marketing strategy that works well for me may not work for you even if we trade the same product or service.

The better you understand your industry and what motivates the people within it, the higher your chances of success.

For this and much more Information relating to employability skills, employment opportunities, career advancement and entrepreneurship development; Join our Telegram and WhatsApp groups, and also follow us on Twitter and Facebook.