Once you have demonstrated your product and gotten to the “closing table,” you are nearly done. At this stage in the selling process and assuming you have done your job, the customer is right on the verge of deal or no deal. Your primary objective is to be fully aware of ANYTHING that might hold this deal back. You do not want your customer to weasel out at the last second just because you did something stupid or overlooked a minor detail. Makin a purchase is a big decision for you or any customer and he or she does not want to make the wrong decision.
You must consider what does their “No” really means. If the customer says no, know- how- they- say- no! There are two ways to say no. The 1st way to say or hear no is an emphatic no. This is what I mean, listen to the tonality of the answer. An empathic NO should be followed by words to this effect. Customer: “No, No the color is really OK…. No it is fine.” What has happened is you have allowed the customer to overcome their own objection. As soon as you hear this type of statement you need to come right back with a SUPPORTING STATEMENT.
A SUPPORTING STATEMENT would work like this: You agree with the buyer.
You: “You know Mr. Customer other clients of mine have told me the same thing, how much they like the color white! Good Choice”. You give a benefit that marries their answer to the feature or advantage of the topic at hand. Such as: “White is really easy to keep clean”.
The 2nd way to say or hear NO is the soft no. Customer: ….. “No.” This is what I call a soft no. You can barely hear the customer say the word no. When you hear the soft no this is the question you have to ask: You: “Mr. Customer what is the REAL reason?” Customer: “We have to sleep on it, check with our accountant, pray on it, talk to our banker” and on and on. What they really want to say, but are too embarrassed to say is “This product is way beyond our budget”. Any time you hear the words “we have to think about it” 85% of the time the real reason is because they are gagging on the price. Unless you have some type of alternative financing, lease deals, rebates or cash incentives you are headed to a no sale on that particular product. You have out-priced yourself by not correctly assessing your client’s needs.
