Before you can respond to a suggestion, you need to understand the real reasons behind it.
You might discover, for example, that:
- The customer can’t afford your product.
- The customer doesn’t like your product.
- The customer has strong personal ties to another vendor.
In these situations, it is probably not worth responding to a customer’s objections. Nothing you say will change the customer’s mind. If they cannot afford the product, then they cannot afford it. Short of you giving them the money, you cannot influence that and if you cannot extend the payment terms then there is nothing more to say. If they don’t like the product, you can offer alternatives but these may not have much relevance. If their objection is related to having strong personal ties to another vendor, then they may well already have made their mind up – but it is worth considering an approach based on the idea that a change is often a good idea. These responses are however at best speculative.
If the objections are less “firm” then they do have the potential to be turned to your advantage. If the objection is based on cost, then look at creative ways around that. It may be that they do not want to spend so much in one go.
A payment plan may be the quickest way around this. A certain amount each month might be something they are prepared to do. You can also look at how much money the deal might save them over time. Saying “Yes, $300 sounds like a lot, but when you consider how much use you will get from the product and how much it will save you, it works out quite reasonably” can help. Avoid using words such as “cheap”, as it can be insulting to a customer who is spending a lot of money.
If the customer is reluctant to purchase because they feel that the product does not meet their needs, get their needs ironed out and explain how the product does just that. It may be a good idea to call on your experience and mention that another customer had the same objections, but the purchase worked out for them in the end and now they swear by it.
You can always embellish on a story if you can base that embellishment in something which holds up to analysis. The key point is to emphasize that the product has many more benefits than negative aspects, and to chip away at the negative aspects by presenting ways around them.
