An Easy Technique to Overcome Your Customers Objections
Which perspective is your customer more likely to take: yours or theirs?
I think that’s kind of a “no duh” question. Obviously they are more likely to adopt their own perspective. It is their perspective after all. So, if that’s true, then it makes total sense to consider their perspective when handling their objections.
Too often we try to have a silver bullet or craft the perfect solution. But the reality is that sometimes you don’t have either. So what do you do?
I am glad I asked.
A couple years back my wife Melissa and I were in need of a new car. On the way to the dealership Melissa looks at me and says very sternly, “No cream colored seats.”
I looked at her a bit perplexed and said, “What?” Emphatically she responded with, “No matter what car we choose, just know that I will not get a car with a cream colored seats.”
When I asked her why, she started muttering about the upkeep and what a pain it is.
We looked at a few previously owned cars together and then she went off looking at cars on the other side of the showroom floor. As she approached the passenger side of one car she threw her hands up in the air and yelled over to me, “Bummer. It has cream colored seats!”
In the sales world, this is known as an objection. (Another “No duh”, right?)
Then something interesting happened. Melissa scurried around to the driver’s side of the car, looked in (as though it might have magically changed colors) and said, “Can you believe it? Cream colored seats!”
I could tell she loved everything else about the car and that if we could come up with a solution, it would likely be ours. Did you notice I said “we”? Good.
Get The Customer Perspective
I walked over to Melissa and said, “Too bad about the cream colored seats. Let me ask you…If this was your car what would you do to make the cream colored seats work?”
In that moment Melissa shifted into a solution mindset. You could see her getting creative to solve her own issue.
After a few moments she said, “Well, we would have to get some great seat covers. Also, I would want us to agree that we will not have open container drinks in the car. And, one other thing…let’s get the seats professionally cleaned twice a year.”
I paused and softly said, “You think that would do the trick?” She agreed it would, and sure enough we bought the car. (Heck, I should have gotten the commission!)
This is a technique we call Transfer of Ownership.
So the next time you find yourself out of silver bullets and you need some help in overcoming your customer’s objections, ask your customer to help! Simply look at them and say, “Well let’s just say you did own this. What would you do to fix it or what would you do to make it work?”
The Transfer of Ownership technique will help your customers be collaborators. When that happens, they’ll know that you’re on their mission and not after your commission.
