Final Punt Rebuttal

I wasn’t sure how to overcome the objection that my client gave me. It was one that I had yet to hear in my first few months of selling. I don’t even remember what it was, but I do remember that I overcame it.

“Joe, I honestly don’t know how to respond to what you are telling me,” I said. I was clueless in my first year of sales. I was selling long distance to companies, which is probably one of the most brutal types of sales. During that time I was kicked out of buildings, yelled at, spit upon, handcuffed in the marble office lobbies in front of the jeering crowds of angry gatekeepers and thrown out onto the street. Well, maybe it didn’t happen that way exactly. But at least that’s the way every single rejection felt in the beginning days of my sales career.

This older executive could have been my grandfather. He was rough and gruff and had eyebrows with more hair on them than most people have on their scalps. He wore overpowering Old Spice aftershave and the bottom part of his neck jiggled every time he opened his mouth. He gave me the objection. After his neck stopped jiggling I told him I didn’t know to respond to what he was telling me. But then I said, “George, I looked at working at several different companies before I choose this one. You need my service and you’re already a user with a competitor. I’m familiar with the company you are currently using, and that’s one company that I interviewed with. They’re a fine company and have a fine product. But the subtle differences between why I choose my current firm (BTI, out of North Carolina) and why I didn’t choose your current vendor is the same reason why I think you should seriously look at switching.”

I went on to tell him how much training they invested in their sales reps, and that if a company spends so much time training their sales people, then it’s a sign that they are training their customer service reps, their technicians, their accounting and billing staff, and everyone else on the train who is along for the ride. He perked up and seemed like he was actually interested in what I was telling him. And finally I said something along the lines that this type of company can only mean one thing: their commitment to a satisfied customer. I explained that good training is a hallmark of good companies, and that he deserved to have a good company to work for him by offering him our service.

That was all I had to say, and I knew I had him back on track. There were two reasons why I believe that he decided to buy from me:

1) I told him a story of my employer which engaged him. I told him about my conflict (finding a job) and the resolution (joining my employer), and described to him in an emotional context the satisfaction that I felt about doing what I was doing what I was doing.

2) I linked my company’s commitment to training to how this would benefit him on a personal level.

3) I stopped selling. There was nothing else I could do. He knew the rates. He knew the services. It was pretty simple and there was nothing else I could do except engage in this final punt attempt at getting his business.

4) I brought him to the conclusion at the end of the story. “Why don’t you give us a try? I think you’ll see for yourself exactly what I’m talking about once you sign up.” It was an assumptive close that focused without hesitation on why he would personally benefit from the service.

The next time you are at the end of your list of rebuttals, try telling a story of why you are a champion of your employer. And this just might help you become a champion in selling.

Scott Love shows managers and sales people how to manage their risk and win the game of business. He is a professional speaker and can be reached at 828-225-7700 or on his website at www.nolimitachievement.com