All customers “lie”

How to shoot down false objections

by Dan Beaulieu

The people you want to sell to don’t always tell the whole truth. In fact, sometimes they even lie. Perhaps you think I am losing my mind, but it’s true: prospects often put up barriers to new products and services that can help their company. However, they resist because they don’t want to shake things up.

The bottom line? It’s up to us in sales to make sure that we cut through the BS.

Check out these examples of typical objections:

“All my vendors are doing a great job and we are not looking for anyone else right now.” Frankly, this statement contains a giant lie. I can guarantee you sight unseen that not all their vendors are doing a great job. The truth is, most companies are not perfect, have problems and are not doing a great job.

Or how about this one: “We measure all of you by price because, as far as we are concerned, all you guys are alike: your quality is the same and delivery is about the same. If you can’t match our price then you won’t be doing business here.” Wow, what a whopper! Quality and delivery are all the same? Show me a guy who says that and I will show you someone who is too lazy to find the best solutions for his or her company.

Here’s a beauty: “Everyone tells me they have great quality and delivery, so why should you be different?” You know, this probably isn’t a lie, at least on the part of the vendor. Everyone probably is telling him they have superior quality and delivery. This scenario proves only one unfortunate thing: everyone lies.

How about this one: “The price from offshore is so good that we don’t care if the quality is a little off the mark, it’s worth it to us.”

Or its cousin: “The price we get from super low-end discount companies is so good, we go to them when quality isn’t an issue.” Here, the buyer and his controller probably really don’t care about quality, but I bet that somebody in their organization does, don’t you?

Here’s a very popular model when it comes to big lies: “We don’t use anyone unless they have whatever spec, capability or equipment, or whatever else you don’t have.” Guess what. If you happen to have a technology they need, they will want to do business with you. That’s a fact.

So what can you do to shoot down these lies? You do everything you can to get in the door and show them how good you are. Whatever it takes, the goal is to get them used to your great service.

At this point you have to be extremely competitive because you are literally buying the opportunity to show the customer what you can do. Remember, the first order is really an important paid audition that gets you one shot to do right. There’s nothing more damaging than working months to get an account, telling them over and over again how great you are, then screwing things up on that first order.

By the way, if this is a likely scenario at your company, don’t waste your time and dollars trying to win new customers until you know you can deliver exactly what they need. But, assuming your performance is good, assuming your deliveries are on time, every time, and that your quality is over 98 percent, then you need to do everything in your power to get that first order.

You have to turn in a stellar first-time performance and then repeat it over and over again. Soon, you will start to see the customer’s confidence in you grow. As he views his other mediocre stable of vendors, you will begin to stand out.

After a while that customer becomes a happy customer. While your service may not always be the lowest priced solution, it becomes the best solution. The customer gets what he wants, and you get the price you want.

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