Handling the Economy Objection Once and For All

The economy is a factor in everyone's business decisions these days - and if you're not addressing it right away with your prospects, then you're costing yourself time and money. Sales trainer Mike Brooks has some advice for you to work the topic into your conversations with prospects - so you can move on with them, or someone else who's ready to buy.

"Here's the bottom line: It's your responsibility to qualify out any economy, price, budget objections on the front end call so that these objections don't come up during the close," says Brooks. "If you're still getting these objections later on, it means you didn't "disqualify" out the non-buyers - which are what you're dealing with when you get this objection."

"It doesn't mean they aren't ever going to be buyers, it just means they aren't going to buy now. And you need to know that in the beginning and not send any information or demo out."

Here are some questions to ask to identify who will and who won't use the "We're just going to wait until the economy gets better" objection. During the qualifying call, make sure and ask any of the following questions by working them into your specific sale:

"A lot of companies are taking advantage of this (your product or service) now that the economy is slow - do you think the time is right for you, too?"

"Given what's happening in the economy right now, do you still see yourself (or your company) moving forward with this now?"

If they say they don't know, then layer it with:

"When do you think would be a more appropriate time for you?"

Also, ask:

"How are you doing in this economy?"

Layer:

"Are you still going to be able to participate in this if we can get you the (price, rate, deal) we're talking about here?"

Ask:

"__________, many of our clients find that this (your product or service) is still important regardless of what is happening in the economy - is it something that you still have in your budget?"

"The bottom line is that it's up to you to eliminate any budget objections before you get into the closing arena," says Brooks. "And you'll do this by asking these types of qualifying/disqualifying questions in advance. Start using them today and watch as your closing ratio goes up, and your frustration level goes down."

Mike Brooks, Mr. Inside Sales, specializes in helping sales reps avoid rejection and make more money. Check out his free ezine at http://www.mrinsidesales.com/ezine.htm

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How to Use Layering Questions

When first speaking with a new prospect, you want to find out as much about them as possible. They have all of the answers as to why or why not they will buy. It's your job to uncover them so you can make the sale. How do you do that without sounding like you're playing 20 Questions? Sales trainer Mike Brooks is an expert on scripts, and believes layering questions are an essential part of them. Read on for his advice on layering your questions to get the most information as possible.

"Only the top sales reps use layering questions, and the reason they are so valuable is because they get your prospect to go a little deeper into an area of interest they have, or in an area of concern," says Brooks. "By scripting out and using layering questions, you will be able to fully understand what is driving your prospect to make a decision, and/or why your prospect might not be ready to do business with you."

Here are some examples from Brooks of layering questions you can use during the prospecting phase to learn who and what is motivating the buying decision:

When qualifying to find out who is involved in the decision process, you're going to start with a nice assumptive question like:

"Besides yourself, who else is involved in the decision process?"

And when they say their spouse, manager, or boss, etc., you then layer the question by asking:

"And what do you think they would do?" Or, "What direction are they leaning in regards to this?" Or, "What do they usually do in this kind of situation?"

You can also use layering questions to expose objections before you get ambushed by them when closing:

If your prospect is looking at other vendors, ask:

"Tell me __________, who else are you looking at in regards to this solution?"

Then follow up with these layering questions:

"And which companies look good to you so far?" Or, "Who are you leaning towards right now?" Or, "If you had to make a decision today, who would you go with?"

And then ask, "Why is that?"

"You must listen carefully to each response you get because your prospects will often reveal the objection that is going to kill your sale later on," continues Brooks. "Top 20% reps would rather know this information now rather than send out their info, go through the trouble of trying to track them down, go through a long presentation, and then get the no."

"Layering questions are effective, powerful and easy to ask. If you want to get instantly better, then use the two above (or adapt them to your sale), and begin to write more of your own."

Mike Brooks, MrInsideSales.com, is creator and publisher of the "Top 20% Inside Sales Tips" weekly Ezine. If you're ready to Double Your Income Selling Over the Phone, then sign up to receive your FREE tips now at: www.MrInsideSales.com.

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