When a decade ago I was faced with having to sell my services for the first time I was terrified. I hated asking for the sale and dreaded the part where my potential clients inevitably came up with objections why they couldn’t use my services.

I’ve since learned that lack of objections is not necessarily a good thing. In fact, I now welcome it when prospects tell me why they can’t do business with me.

Frankly, when a potential client shares his reasons why he or she hesitates to take advantage of my offer, to me it’s a sign of two things; one – they are interested in my services, and two – I’m getting closer to closing the deal.

But many professionals, like consultants or coaches, find “overcoming objections” and “closing” the deal stressful, unpleasant and pushy. If that’s you, I want to share with you two lessons that helped me develop a different mindset around this.

First, a “no” doesn’t always mean “no”. Often it simply means “not now” or “I don’t have enough information yet
to say yes.”

Second, you can’t “overcome” your prospect’s objections – but you can give them information and tools that allow them to make a new decision.

In my Attract Clients Like Crazy program I teach a specific process that doesn’t rely on memorizing scripts and is the most natural way to lead potential customers towards making a buying decision. (Note: my new ACLC program will be available for sale in a couple of weeks – you will love it!)

For now, if you too experience anxiety around “closing” sales here are my tested and proven responses to the top five objections your prospective clients are very likely to raise.

OBJECTION #1: I HAVE TO THINK ABOUT IT.

“I don’t blame you. Hiring a can be a big decision. Can you share with me what specific aspect of my services you are concerned about?”

“Yes, I can see how this can be a big decision. You know I found that typically my clients are initially concerned with one of the three things: is the problem important enough to solve it now, is this the right solution for your situation, can you afford the solution? Which one of those concerns you the most?”

“Hmmm… I see. Let me ask you… Let’s say we get started on this project – what are the downsides?”

OBJECTION #2: I HAVE TO TALK TO MY PARTNER ABOUT IT.

“Great. What kinds of questions do you think they might they ask?”

“Good idea. I always discuss decisions like this with my partner (or spouse). But let me ask you a question – what will you do when your partner doesn’t like the idea of us moving forward with this?”

OBJECTION #3: IT’S TOO EXPENSIVE.

“Expensive comparing to what?”

“Expensive?! What’s really expensive is your current way of thinking! It’s produced the results you have right now and I think we both already agreed that without outside perspective and help you will just keep getting harder and harder and nowhere really fast! Now, let’s looks again how we can ensure that you get a great ROI on your investment in the next 90 days and then let’s make it a top priority at the beginning of our project…”

“Yes, it’s a solid investment. I tell you what – I know this is only worthwhile if you produce solid results, right? What’s the one result you would want to be absolutely sure we could produce in the next that would have you really happy you hired me? Great! Why don’t we make this our top priority and get started right away?”

“Not really. How does this investment compare to what it’s costing you to do nothing about this problem?”

“Frankly, that’s exactly why you need me.”

OBJECTION #4: I SHOULD BE ABLE TO DO IT ON MY OWN.

“Hmmmm… how long have you been dealing with this issue? If you haven’t solved it on your own so far what makes you think you can do it now?”

“Yes, I suppose you could. But let me ask you something: when was the last time you saw (heard) of a heart surgeon performing an open heart surgery on himself?”

“With all the respect… I must disagree. If you thought you could solve this problem on your own we wouldn’t be talking right now. Tell me, how would things be different if you could rely on an unbiased opinion to give you a fresh perspective/solutions to this problem?”

OBJECTION #5: I DON’T HAVE THE TIME RIGHT NOW.

“Yes, it will take some time to address this issue. How much more time per week could you devote to other, revenue-generating activities if you could eliminate dealing with this problem on ongoing bases?”

“That’s funny; you just told me it takes you 10 hours a week to deal with this problem – wouldn’t it make sense to hire someone like myself and solve it so that you can use your time on more productive tasks?”

“Wow, if you are that busy and you are still not getting the results you want perhaps it would make sense to start the project by helping you better prioritize your activities and leverage your time more effectively?”

These are only a few examples of responses I found helpful in getting to a “yes” in negotiating a sale. Rather than trying to memorize those specific sentences I suggest you try to understand and learn the underlying concepts each of the responses is based on.

Here is what you must understand; an objection is a cover for a deeper concern. By voicing it your prospects give you an opportunity to address it and provide information to eliminate it. So quit trying to prove your point and instead ask thought-provoking questions. I think you will be pleasantly surprised by the outcomes.

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© 2000-2009 Marketing Mentors Inc. All Rights Reserved.

The author, Adam Urbanski, helps service professionals and business owners how to
attract all the new clients they want, and how to develop marketing
strategies to increase sales and profits. His website offers more how-to
articles and free tips to create a winning
marketing action plan at www.themarketingmentors.com.
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Here’s a great tip from the guys at Brownbook on how to effectively use video to drive traffic.

Video has opened up a whole new way to present your business to prospective customers.  But many business owners don’t know how to get it working for them.  The biggest question is one of quality, and how good is ‘good’.  Big businesses want to make an epic, and small businesses just think they do.  They’re both wrong.  Savvy consumers today see through glossy marketing videos.  Here’s what you do: Whether you’re big or small, get a handcam, point it at the CEO or business owner, and get them to TALK about their business.  Keep it short – less than 2 minutes – and avoid multiple takes.  In most cases us consumers want to see you in the raw, without all that high production; we want to see you, hear you, KNOW you.  Then we’ll trust you – and if we trust you we’ll buy.

FYI: Brownbook is a great resource that’s free and gets results from the search engines. You can add photos, videos and more on your company’s listing. And if you don’t have a website, you can use your Brownbook profile as your home on the web.

Here’s a very useful tip that I use ALL the time. Instead of calling my cell phone provider to get a phone number:

I call:
1-800-GOOG-411

• It’s quick
• You can receive a text to add to your phone’s contacts
• You can even get a map showing the area around the business.
• And it’s FREE

To see other useful tips, check back often.
Quick Tips for Contractor Marketing #1 & #2

Yellow pages are DEAD!

4 out of 10 consumers use local search to conduct research and make purchasing decisions. – Business Wire

So what is local search engine marketing?

Your potential customers have rapidly changed their buying habits. Right now 40% of consumers use the internet when making their buying decisions, and this number has grown 31% in just the last year 2008.

Which brings up the question, how do consumers use the internet to find you?

• Area search – An example of this is “roofing contractor sacramento”
• Hands On search – This is a search where the consumer is looking to visit your place of business to see what options are available or to compare prices first hand. Example – “tile store chicago”
• Finding a specific business – This type of search was traditionally done with the yellow pages, which is time consuming at best. Instead, using the internet one can quickly find the business they are looking for – “lumber yard sunrise blvd”

Consumers looking to do business with contractors use the internet to find you. By far the most common type of search for contractors is an area search. And for those of you who rely on a storefront, like kitchen and bath design centers, to aid in your sales process, the hands on search is also relevant.

Your sales are impacted by local search!

Let’s take a moment to see exactly what is seen by your consumers when they do a local search for your company. Google is constantly trying to determine if the search has local intent. For example, when someone is looking for a specific company in an area Google will display a specific location.

At other times, Google can’t determine if the consumer is looking for a specific company. In this example, the consumer is looking for a contractor in an area. When Google see this, it will display a map with many of your competitors. If your company isn’t shown, you are not going to get the call!

One last way, that Google serves up a search is when they know the business, but can’t determine the location. This is what I call a 3 pack.

As you can tell, local search is important for your company to embrace. As a business, you need to take the steps necessary to list your company and take control over your listing. Doing this well, will have you placed near the top of Google’s local search.

Consumers are using the internet to find contractors and businesses. Can they find you?

In the next article in this series, I will discuss mobile search and the rapidly changing way your customers are using not only their computers to find you, but their iPhones and other smartphones.

Please feel free to give me your comments and suggestions as to what you would like to learn in future articles by commenting below.