Every sales leader knows that at the heart and soul of every sales process, there's gonna come a point where you get the ever feared objection.
“Your price is too high.”
“I don’t want to get stuck in a contract.”
“We don’t need your solution.”
Sound familiar? Most salespeople have been there, heard that. But not all salespeople have perfected the art of overcoming objections.
So what is the right framework to be successful in objection handling?
On this episode of Evolved Sales Live, host Jonathan Fischer welcomes back for the second time Neal Tricarico, CEO of Ultimate Growth and advocate for skills enhancement through training and repetition. Listen in as they uncover Neal’s proven framework for dealing with objections.
Don't forget to follow us on LinkedIn for more engaging sales insights and discussions! Happy watching!
Meet Neal:
Neal Tricarico is an expert in the art of building and leading successful sales teams, with a portfolio of clients such as Chet Holmes, Tony Robbins, and Ryan Deiss. He’s the co-founder and CEO of Ultimate Growth Inc., a business services and consulting firm that helps companies scale their sales teams using methods that work with the way buyers want to interact today.
Check out the transcription of this webinar episode below!
Jonathan Fischer 0:03
Welcome back to evolve sales. Every sales leader knows that at the heart and soul of every sales process, there's gonna come a point where you get the ever feared objection. How do you deal with objections? What's the right framework to be successful? We've got the perfect guest today to help us with this. Neil trucare. CO is the CEO of ultimate growth. And Neil is an advocate for skills enhancement through training and repetition. And today, he is going to bust your framework up on how you deal with objections. Neil, fantastic to have you on the show today. Welcome.
Neal Tricarico 0:39
Thank you, Jonathan. It's great to be alive.
Jonathan Fischer 0:45
So we're going to do something a little different audience, we're going to try to make this be truly live. It's we call this evolve sales live. For those of you with us recording our podcast that you've all sales leader here on LinkedIn, each week, right here, we're going to try to live up to that billing today in some fresh ways. So we want to ask you, as the audience to be more engaged than maybe you've even been in the past, be ready for real time question and answer during and throughout our show today. And he is going to be doing a real training in terms of the nuts and bolts, if you are selling every day, a b2b solution. You've got a SAS or a technical or services solution, and you're dealing on the front lines. We'd like you to be giving us your input in the chat and you're gonna get real world input in real time. Neil, do I have a right take it from there, brother? What are you gonna do for us today?
Neal Tricarico 1:37
Yeah, you do. And I'm super pumped, any pod cast, and I'm blessed to be on so many. The theme of this pod cast the podcast play is indistinct to my lead sin framework. And as we look at experts, Objection, handling objections and close more deals. Struck with his it's no longer coming objection. Something I do to you when I own over deduction. I'm doing something to no one wants to be sold to buy any more of their objection. objection is overcome objections. That means we're a fly. We're partnered with them in a no this the port the gaps that we are there to serve them enrolling. If it makes the most sense.
Jonathan Fischer 2:44
Well, it and Neil I'm getting I'm getting word from my producer that there is an audio issue. On your end live audience. We thank you for your patience with this. Let me ask you see if you can't troubleshoot that just for a moment and get that audio a little bit better where it could be if you have a plug in or if you're able to log out log back in. The great news is we can edit this out for later podcast episode, I'll take this as an opportunity while at Neil deals with that challenge. remind everybody that if you are enjoying the guests that we have in the show, as much as I know a lot of you are you have the opportunity to go back anytime you like and hear the previous guests on our show by going over and checking out the evolved sales leader podcast wherever you'd like to go get your podcast, whether it's apple, iTunes, it's could be Google anywhere you'd like to get those default sales leader is a growing show. And we invite you to go and download those episodes to us while you're working out while you're driving. While you're training with your teams that you've all seen leader podcasts that's every live turns into a podcast episodes that go check us out when you have a moment. So like, come back to Neil and see if we've got some audio improvements going on. Check it out, brother.
Neal Tricarico 3:53
Okay.
Jonathan Fischer 3:57
Yeah, it's still it's still given us given us headaches. If you log out and log back in, let's see if that fixes it. I'm gonna let you troubleshoot that. See, I guess we're working 100%. So it just, we can make it work. Okay. All righty. So we'll, we'll give you a chance to solve that problem.
So a couple things I'll mention too, in terms of what we have planned for today, I plan to stick around, we're gonna go until quarter till the hour wherever you are in the country listening. So we're going to have plenty of time to still get into Neil's framework, he's got a seven part framework for dealing with objections. And it is very different if you could hear a little bit of what he was saying before, rather than waiting for them to come and get into this sort of this battle, and treating objections if something happens to you. This is a framework that would let you as a professional producer, be ahead of the game and be in better control
The situation in a way that makes them more comfortable, and is far more effective. So I know we're all excited to hear that. And also, if if somebody out there if you're game to come on the show, we will literally send you the link to pop on with us and interact with Niall and be coached on a specific scenario like a real world scenario. So maybe be thinking about, like, what were the top objections you dealt with, or that you have dealt with over the your last, however many calls or, you know, pitches that you've had with prospects out there? What are the main reasons they're not buying? What seems to be stumping you, and especially if you're a seasoned person, if there's a real issue, and it keeps, it seems to keep coming up, see, if you can't get that, have that ready to go. And we're going to actually roll that out as a scenario with our expert trainer on the line. Now, we want to give the open up the opportunity to anyone, I do have someone who's been kind enough to raise their hand, and we'll bring them in if we if we in a moment. But we're gonna extend that opportunity to the whole audience today that you can literally come on the show, and get get into a roleplay with Neil, hopefully, we'll be bopping bopping on here very shortly. So in the chat, while we're letting him figure out those technical deals, go ahead and start to send us if you would, in the chat, some of the top objections that you've been dealing with when you're trying to get that b2b sales deal closed. And the one that pops in my mind is, it's difficult to get all of the stakeholders involved, the decision is someone else got to talk to. And it seems like that's a way that the cycle gets, you know, time added to the equation again, and again. You know, Bob is the head of this department. He wasn't in on these meetings, that kind of thing. What are the some of the other objections you have, start sending those into chat, and we'll get some real world input and insight from our expert, Neil, how are we sounding brother?
Neal Tricarico 6:54
Good. Done. Okay.
So we're showing you got that I'm working. And I don't know if it sounds different when it's working over here.
Jonathan Fischer 7:10
So the feedback we're getting out here isyeah, we're getting some breaking up still happening. Let's proceed a little bit further and see how we can do anyway. Let's just give it a go. Maybe slow it slow down your normal pace of speech and see if that allows for whatever is going on with technology today.
Neal Tricarico 7:31
That's good.nAnd again, the test? Was the green bar. That not sure. What else did two different
Jonathan Fischer 7:44
working my producers recommending you kill that kill the earphones entirely? Get rid of that if there may be a conflict there. And just channel your audio through your local speaker. And then if you go to the gear at the bottom in the settings, what's that? Make sure those that the audio is all set up properly? Using the correct device for audio output versus input?
Neal Tricarico 8:13
Yes, it's got it showing my sure MV seven microphone and full green.
Jonathan Fischer 8:21
Now you're working. No cutting perfect that did it. Okay. Awesome. Thanks for that suggestion. Producer. Appreciate you. Joshua, you're my man.
Neal Tricarico 8:31
Joshua.
Jonathan Fischer 8:33
Okay, so let, yeah, Joshua is a total Rockstar, bro. I love Joshua, he is he he's behind the scenes on this deal, guys. But if you'd like to show you all a Joshua, a big high five, virtually or in real world if you get chance to see him. So Neil, with that, let's get into our content today. So first of all, when it comes to objections, let's set the table this way. It as you were saying before, it often is treated as something that kind of happens to you. And then you get into sort of this. It's kind of like it's a battle of the will like, right, you're trying to wait for this punch, and you give a counter punch. And it's this argument and you give that argument and you trot. Like that doesn't seem like that's the way people want to interact today anymore, is it?
Neal Tricarico 9:16
It is not. And that's why it's such a pleasure to be featured again on the evolved sales leader because evolved means we're keeping up with the times no one wants to be sold to anymore. They want to be enrolled. No one wants to have their objections overcome. That's something I do to use. So oftentimes, people will come in hopes that I'm going to give them what I used to have hundreds of lines to overcome objections, but when in fact, when we handle objections, even this shift between handling objections and overcoming objections, has a profound impact on how we relate to our prospects because when we're handling that means we're addressing together in sir risk of a common outcome is to explore enrollment we're overcoming is something I do to you and no one wants to do that anymore. Yeah, right on. I mean, there. We live in an era where there's so much information available, no one is coming into the conversation completely unaware, right, and no one is going to exit the conversation without going in further and forming themselves unless you do a great job giving them a reason to not do that. So there's been a real shift, I think, in terms of power, if you want to think of it that way. I don't love thinking about that way. But in a way, it is kind of a power shift away from the selling professional and into the hands of the consumer. A lot of us probably agree that maybe that's a good thing, it just means is our job as sales pros has shifted somewhat. So what are you recommending as an alternative, then maybe, maybe give us sort of the 30,000 foot view and then we're gonna dive in? Great, yeah, you hit the nail on the head, it's not our job to sell a prospect. Our job as a sales professional, is to help our prospects make the best decision possible for themselves around our product or service. In fact, my personal mission and our mission at ultimate growth is to demystify sales as something other something that we do to prospects, we sell them, we close them, we, you know, get them to buy our product. No, it's about being professional, helping them discover and uncover what they really actually need. And whether we're not our product or service helps them meet that need. That's a moral obligation that we have.
Jonathan Fischer 11:38
And you have a framework that you use to really help the modern evolved sales leader have better control for the better outcomes for all concerned. Correct. So yes, tell us about that.
Neal Tricarico 11:50
Yeah, so it's, it's a really straightforward framework that I'm going to take all of you through. And it's rule approach it as a Mad Libs. So I'm going to teach it to you. And then I'm going to prompt you to respond, you can respond in the chat. But most importantly, make sure you take note of the prompts, so that you have the framework to execute this approach yourself. And then at the end of this, I'm happy to provide this framework. I don't like to use the word script, but this framework for supporting you in an evolved way, helping your prospects overcome any objections they may have to enrollment.
Alright, so let's let's dive into it. So we kind of set the table here. But this is an expert objection handling process. Let's look at most common objections. So let's go ahead and have everyone just quickly put in your most common objection. What are the what's the most common objection that you're running into? In your sales interactions?
And do I get to see those here? Yeah, here's here's a, here's a few. Okay, cool. All right. So, so keep going with those. And then what I'm going to share with you when we go to the next slide is, studies show that the most common objections that occur across any sales interaction is number one is price or the cost, right? That's about 54%. But then, interestingly enough, look at number two, it's Trust. Trust. That means the number number two objection second to price is that our prospects don't really actually trust us as sales professionals. And that is keeping them from moving forward with enrollment.
Then we've got time time, it is a common objection. And then I know we're in b2b here, so we don't run into this as much, which is spouse. So yeah, those are the most common objections we see that studies show. And why do objections occur? Let's take a closer look at why objections occur, and why they occur more recently as if you look at two traditional sales model. So the pre evolved sales model. Some of you might recognize this. But if you look down there towards the bottom, where it talks about overcoming objections, we're spending a very little amount of time really actually gaining rapport establishing trust and respect with our prospects. Simon Sinek has brought us what I believe to be the best definition of trust. Trust is a biological reaction that someone has our best interests at heart. So imagine in your most important your primary relationships, your friendships, that trust means you would step out of your comfort zone and take action because you trust this human being. And if you look at the stats, if trust is one of the number one or number two objections, there's no hand
To learn or something to say or do to create that, that means. So if we flip over to the other pyramid, please, Jonathan, there the reality, the truth of it is, is that, look how small down at the bottom handling objections is. So your number one opportunity to handle or overcome objections, if you will, isn't actually at the point where you get to the part where objections come up. Rather, it is at the beginning of your interaction with them. And it is more specifically tied to your ability to establish rapport with your prospect studies show that 44% of enrollment comes from your ability to establish that rapport. So number one is you've got to establish that rapport that's going to do more to preempt objections than anything else. And then number two is your questioning strategy, how you diagnose needs, and help the prospect transition from what they think they came to you for, which is what they think they want, you've got to take them to a level deeper to uncover for them what they really actually need. Right. So when you run this, effectively, you're going to close the gap. And as we get into the objection handling process, I want you to write this down. Okay? Price is only an issue when the value is not clear. Price is only an issue when the value is not clear. So if someone is objecting to you, what they're really actually telling you is you haven't helped them unlock for themselves, and be able to articulate to you or anyone else, why the value of your product is greater than their investment. This goes all the way back to what you were saying, Jonathan, it's not about selling anymore, folks are going to make their buying decisions. So an objection says, sales professional, you haven't helped me uncover value that would be greater than this cost, my time my money. Whatever your objection may be. Let me pause there for a second. Is that Is that making sense? Is that resonating with folks?
Jonathan Fischer 17:16
Yeah, we're getting some feedback here. That
Neal Tricarico 17:20
great, okay, cool. Yeah, I can't see any of it. And I'm just going to trust that we are in the to the right of your view, you can click to see the chat. Okay, top right. There's options. Okay, cool. I see. Last one was cost.
Okay. Yep. Great. Awesome. All right. So now let's go into the specific process for handling objections. So we start with preparation. This is your mindset before you even enter the interaction. Right? So number one is you've got to be prepared. Okay? Don't expect objections. But be prepared. If you want to move that forward, Jonathan, be prepared. It's really important. You're going through a sales interaction, you're going through a human to human inner interaction, don't expect objections, but be prepared, they're they're likely to come up, get excited instead of resistance, that excitement that energy says I'm willing and open to solve for rather than objections, questions or concerns that I need to solve for together with my prospect to lead to enrollment. And then number three is have such great rapport, that they ask questions instead of objecting. Right. So you know, you're on the right track, you know, you have that rapport established if somebody's not willing to move forward quite yet. And they're asking questions instead of giving you objections. And lastly, you want to bring about and use pre frames to bring up the most common objections in advance. Alright, so let's go ahead and look at our seven step. objection handling process. This is your framework to support the prospect in working through any objections they may have. So number one, you before we start, you've got to begin by aligning this is a mindset thing. What do I mean by aligning? It says, I'm not going to overcome again, you are not across the table from me. I'm putting my our liar arm around you. And we're aligned to solve these challenges together. So when somebody objects, you want to have that mindset and you want to meet them where they are. You want to use some frames like, you know what, I appreciate what you're saying, Jonathan, or I respect what you're saying. I agree. So you want to have a statement there that bridges us being apart and having to overcome something to us being aligned and solving together.
further. From there, let's go ahead and dive into the seven steps. Now we're aligned with them. So step number one is, ignore the objection and listen closely, literally ignore it. And listen closely. Most common objections are a conditioned response. So let it go over your head without attempting to answer it, and continue to listen closely for the purpose of understanding, you don't want to give energy to the objection and make it an even bigger issue than it already may be. So imagine in the evolved sales leader environment, I'm sure many of you, whether you're doing your sales interactions on Zoom, or on telephone, are breaking down the tape, you're listening to the recordings, if you aren't, you really ought to. And what you'll notice is in that objection handling part that rep is leaning in right there, they're almost about to cut off the prospect to interject because they know what they want to say next. So what you want to do is step back, pause, literally ignore it, allow the prospect to fill in the space. And when you do that, it leads to number two. Number two is to feed back the objection to feed it back, and kindly listen. So feedback, the objection as with an inquisitive tone in your voice, the program and product program is too expensive. Right? So it's if it's a conditioned response, what that's going to do is going to cause the prospect to actually think about what they said, in support of their statement. And when they think about it, it's going to give you more information, it's even possible in this step, that they'll answer their own objection. So for instance, is it that the program is too expensive? And then you pause, they may said something? Well, it's not too expensive. It's just, I don't have the $15,000 right now, or if I have half of it. So now you know, it's okay, great. It's not the price. Let's work on how we can work through the payment. So again, number two, feed it back and kindly listen. Then number three is question it. And listen, name, you must have some reason for sharing that. Do you mind if I ask what it is? So there's often a reason for the objection. And it's important to find out what it is before attempting to resolve it. So this question will help you discover what if any reference they have for their resistance or concern. So again, you've got to make sure you carefully listen because you're going to know how to deal with it. Right. So name, you must have some reason for sharing that. Do you mind if I ask what it is the reason is the area where you're going to be able to support them. Number four, isolate and test close name, just suppose we handle that, in your opinion, would you be willing to proceed? This is going to smoke out any other possible hidden objections and give you a reading as to where you stand where you are with them. Okay, so it's better on to uncover any other potential stalls now, as opposed to later. And again, by using the phrase just suppose it gets them to imagine as if the challenge is solvable, and they're gonna have less energy attached to it. So this is really important. Just suppose we handle that, in your opinion, you would you willing to proceed? Well, no, I mean, I suppose we handle that, then I have this question. I don't think I have enough time. It's not just the money. I don't have enough time. Okay, just suppose we're able to handle that. Would you be willing to proceed? Yes. Right. So we want to know, the entirety of the holdup and where we stand in that. And then again, he's saying just suppose we handle that imagine as if it's solvable. Alright, let's go to five.
Now five, this is where I want to have you guys start to do your madlib. Okay, so number five is convert the question into an objection. That brings up a question, is it that you feel the program is too expensive? Or isn't the real question blank, right? So that blank is the value that you need to help them close? I can't determine that for you. But you can take this exercise and later when I send you the script, map this out, but this reframe causes them to change the way they perceive their situation, and shifts the focus from the challenge to the benefit. So in my world, on the the highest of level where myself and my organization are inside of an organization and working with them directly to grow their performance and sales results if the objection is that
they feel it's too expensive. The convert into a question may go something like this. Is it that you feel our engagement is too expensive? Or is it the real question? How am I going to get one client from this engagement? Because that is going to enable me to self fund this investment. So we're moving them away from this seemingly insurmountable idea of cost are priced into, well, what would it really actually take? Okay, and that moves them from being in some reactive victimized mode to getting down and working together? Well, what would it really actually take to partner to do that? So again, convert that objection into a question. And I'd like you to it to the extent you can put it in the chat, but at least for yourself, what would that look like for you? Is that that you feel the and then you repeat the objection? It's too expensive, takes too much time, or whatever your objection is? Or isn't the real question and then put in your value statement, and that shifts them from the fear and lack to the possibility which activates their mind into resourcefulness? Okay, number six, imagine this number six is answer the question, right? So we've gone through this whole process, but this is where your product knowledge comes into play? Because you made up the question, you know the answer and need to frame it in a way that is of benefit to them. So if you've done your homework, meaning in that pyramid that we showed earlier, if you diagnose their needs, and understand clearly how your product or service will meet their needs, now you get to answer the question, right? So you're gonna have to take some time on this, this isn't something that I or anyone can can magically solve for you. But again, this is where you are going to answer the question and move them off of that fear and concern, to a better question, how can we solve for getting one client to self fund for this? Right?
Okay, and then lastly, is number seven is congratulate and future pace. So this is a really important step instead of thanking them. And before you ask for their payment, you've got to give a heartfelt congratulations for making such a great decision. And then ask them, What does this decision mean for you specifically? What does this mean for your business? Again, we got to keep the focus on them. When we're thanking someone, we're acknowledging them for something they're doing for us, when we congratulate them for a decision an action that they're taking. They're associating their action, their Extreme Ownership with their decision. Right. So Jonathan, congratulations on making the best decision. I'm curious, what is this decision mean for you? What does this mean for your, for your business? You've got to let them tell you because again, the the Solve for prices only an issue when the value is not clear is when that prospect articulates in her own words, why they're moving forward. So if they can't tell you why they're moving forward, you haven't created by and you haven't facilitated their enrollment. So if they if they don't answer that question, you haven't enrolled them. So letting them off the phone or out of the meeting at this point, is they're there. They're not enrolled, and it's going to potentially lead to buyer's remorse? Well, I really like what you have in this whole framework, hear a lot of this is shifting psychology into a healthier position. Like if you're when you thank someone for a deal, that may even feel like a polite thing to do. But you're really, you're almost making it feel like it's transactional now, right? If the whole thing is mostly about them and their outcome, what you're doing is tying a bow on that consistent thought that from start to finish. This is about solving their problems and creating a benefit that they are going to enjoy in real terms.
Well said, and again, therein lies the whole beauty of our evolved community is it's it's their decision, right? It's not lessening or weakening the sales profession, but it's it's putting the focus the evolution, where it should be on on our prospects on our clients. So this idea of overcoming objections and it goes away because it's really a matter of reconnecting with them. And the two of you getting clarity around what's
most important to them and when your product or service solves or exceed that need in supporting them in making the best decision to enroll.
Yeah, I love that. Now we're gonna, we want to shift gears now. So we have a lot of great examples in the chat. And just for convenience, I've actually curated a bunch of those over. And I can put those up on the screen that are the specific ones that are objections, we also do have a volunteer that is here and could join the call and can get into a roleplay. With you. I know you've got a really wonderful offer. So why don't we Why don't we give those who may have to depart for sake of time, you've got a really nice downloadable they can take and run with and then we'll shift over to the roleplay. What is that downloadable work? Where can people find that, Neil? Yeah, so where you can find that download, if you'll go ahead and put it in the chat, it's Sales Team system.com/objections, that Sales Team system.com/objection. So I've taken this framework, and I've created a madlib for you for you to fill out. So go ahead and download that fill that out. And you know, this has been compressed and especially with the technology, but my commitment to you is, I am so committed to you evolving in this mechanism, that when you download it when you complete it, I'm happy to to work through it with you work through it with you as part of your script roleplay with you, one on one with it as well, because it's so important to me that as part of being evolved sales leader, that we demystify this idea of overcoming objections and use a framework to re clarify what's most important to our prospects. So again, Sales Team system.com/objections.
Jonathan Fischer 31:53
All right, I love it. I appreciate you sharing that with our audience. Lots of value there. Now, we do have some great questions in the chat. But everyone came to see the roleplay in real time with an audience member. And we do have a gentleman who is actually a longtime audience member, who was kind enough to raise his hand and said, Yeah, I'll be the guinea pig. So I'm gonna go ahead and bring him on at this point. This is Dennis Hamilton. Dennis good. And say hello to the audience here at Evolve sales. Everybody to all sales. How are we doing today? A lot of you already know me.
Yeah, definitely a friend, a friend of the show, as you might say. So
let's let's turn it over then to our capable trainer while I get my Windows sharing a show in the correct way. Here we go. That we're all out. We got
Neal Tricarico 32:41
all right. Well, awesome, Dennis, thank you for hopping on to the hot seat. And we're we're gonna go through this process, right. So I will be you. Excuse me, I will be the sales rep, and you'll be the prospect. But then when we get to that madlib point where we're going to set the question and answer the question, I'll flip it back over to you to prompt me for that, and then we'll talk through it. Does that sound good? So I'll start out as the client, and then we'll switch right when we do the converting objection into a question. Exactly. And then answer because I don't know you or your business as well as you do. Awesome. Sounds great. Yeah. Or if you feel comfortable you can be I can be the prospect of the whole time. And you tell me the objection, and we'll we'll go through the script, which would support you most? I'm fine. I'm great with planning. That works. Great. I'll start out as the client and I'll end up as the as the sales rep. Okay, great. So we'll start this off. I'm gonna say, Okay.
Dennis, in what's your program, or service? We offer a leadership training to small businesses on seven core business disciplines. Okay, great. So Dennis, tell me answer me this. Why is our leadership program something you must move forward with?
Dennis Hamilton 34:07
Well, I'm not sure that we're going to move forward with it. What I'm looking at right now is I'm trying to really figure out the price versus value proposition. And it seems like the price to me is still pretty doggone high based on what we had budgeted for this.
Neal Tricarico 34:25
So I'm pausing right now, you may or may not fill that space, oftentimes you won't, so Okay. All right. So Dennis, is it is it that you feel the Leadership Program is too expensive?
Dennis Hamilton 34:41
You know, it's not really that it's too expensive. I'm much more concerned about what value it's going to deliver to my team over time, is I am the actual expense as far as what you're charging for the program. Okay, I understand. Now, what's interesting here, audiences. Dennis is in essence
Neal Tricarico 35:00
To answer the question, you must you must have some reason for sharing that. Do you mind if I ask what it is? So it's really important as you become more proficient at this, you don't just ask the question. He's answered it, right? So he is in a in a proactive way. So he's engaging as we,
as this framework would suggest he would in one or two. So it's as if I had asked him, you must have some reasons for sharing this. Do you mind if I ask what it is? So he, we don't need to ask that? Because he said, it's not that it's so much so expensive. I'm just not clear on the value that yet that I would get for that investment. Right. So imagine it, we're right in that value conversation. Price is only an issue when the value is not clear. So whose obligation is it to help dentists clarify and understand the value? Right? It's ours as the sales professionals, so we're not going to we're not going to overcome him, we need to understand. So alright, so then we go to isolate and Tesco. So Dennis, just suppose we handle that. And we're able to help you see and articulate for yourself the value that would be greater than the cost to spend in this program, would you be willing to proceed?
Dennis Hamilton 36:22
Yes, if we see that the value supersedes the cost, we would definitely be willing to proceed.
Neal Tricarico 36:28
Great. So now we can move to five because we don't have to worry about any other objections. We've isolated this one thing. If there was a second objection, we would ask that question again. So now we go to number five, convert the objection into a question. Dennis, that brings up a question. Is it that you feel that?
Is it that you feel that the program is too expensive? And you're not clear on the
the value that the program would bring? Or is the real question?
And then I wouldn't know how to answer that. Because I don't know what the value is of your program. But you would answer answer that. So what is the question that supersedes? That is greater from your perspective in your knowledge of the value of your leadership program over the objection of its price? So let me ask you this deal. At the end of the day, if the real objection wasn't price, but it was really value in the product line. Let me ask you this. When what type of result were you expecting out of the program? And how would you quantify that result as far as the value that it delivers your organization? Yes, exactly. Right. Because if it's a value based issue, it's really it's really not It's not price, because we haven't gotten to the point of price and value, right? If I'm if I'm going to buy this water bottle, and I know what it cost, but I don't know what it will do for me. I'm not yet at that point. So potentially, if you if somebody wanted to take extreme ownership of it, and be a little playful with it, they could say something like, Dennis, you know, I'm curious is the question isn't the question not whether you the the price of this leadership program, and its value, but isn't the real question, Have I done a good enough job of helping you understand what that value would be against the price? So I want to take ownership of that and take a step back? Because I failed to uncover from you. What would the ROI or what would the return need to be for you understanding what you understand about my program thus far? Does it does that make sense? So you're gonna seem as more relatable and human because it's actually the truth? You You haven't uncovered the value that would make it worth investing in. Again, speaking to the demystification of an objection, there's no objection there, the sales professional hasn't done a good enough job to uncover the value that would make it worth investing in. So you just take ownership for that and explore rather than sell well. You know, Dennis, you know, what were you expecting to pay for that?
You know, and then just you just start hammering Well, I think it's worth 5000. Well, you know, I mean, if I were to tell you that, you know, it'd be worth 20,000 And I could give you a check for 20,000. And all you had to do is come up with a check for 5000. By this weekend, wouldn't you? What would it take for you to go get that check to get 5000 or 20,000? Right now we're in that old school objection, you know, overcoming BS as opposed to taking ownership and
that together, we didn't discover, where is that point of value that exceeds the cost. It's just decision making 101. This was a profound example, Dennis. Awesome. So you didn't have to do so Amelia, you didn't answer my question. If I, if I couldn't build enough value, no, go ahead, John.
Jonathan Fischer 40:24
That's good stuff. Well, I want to thank Dennis for coming on and being our guinea pig today. And we're we're gonna get him a little a little plug as well. If you're interested. Maybe you're a listener and you'd like to be check out his his offering. It's a green fund.net. Dennis, thanks for coming on and doing a great job. You're a real pro. You bet.
All right, well, so we've got some other good q&a activity we can engage in here, Neal, let's jump over to that. If we could. I'm going to start with a couple of questions. And then we can maybe take a look at remaining objections, and you can give a little extra color as time allows. Got it? So one of the there's a couple here that I thought were kind of interesting, where Joshua, hey, he's my hero. So I'm gonna we're gonna give him first dibs on a question. How do you build rapport with someone who answers the phone already angry? So the right to like, that's not even an objection where you're partway in? It's like, they've already got an attitude that is out of out of whack? How do you handle that? Yeah, that's a great question. I mean, I don't know if there's a way to interact with Joshua. But is this a is this a cold call? Or is this somebody who has, you know, signed up for some sort of strategy session or something like that? Let's go with the latter. Just as by way of scenario, okay, so Yeah, cuz we're b2b, it's probably likely a strategy session. So the number one way to build rapport out of the gate, especially if somebody's coming in hot, irritated or annoyed is the number one thing that happens, which is wrong. And also happens more than 99% of the time as we start that engagement with what what do we start is the very first question.
Neal Tricarico 42:07
Maybe you can answer it, Jonathan, since it's just you and me. But if we're if we're if you're showing up for
a strategy session that you've taken time out of your day, you think it's a sales call. And if I asked you, what is the first question, how you doing? Exactly right, how you doing? That's such a conditioned response. It's a throw away. And right out of the gate, if you can believe it, it's rapport breaking. But we've got to acknowledge since we've come out of the womb, human nature, that's we say, Hey, Jonathan, how are you? You're right. But the better question is, I'm sorry, what was the gentleman's name? Joshua, Joshua. Okay. Joshua. Joshua, congratulations for taking the time and showing up for your blank strategy session. I'm curious what led you to reach out and raise your hand to participate in this? Now? It shifts the attention where it should be on them. It's not like hey, how you doing? What city are you in? How's the weather there? You look like you have a beautiful family in their background. That's all report breaking. You want to start right out of the gate with with a congratulations frame again. Not thanking them don't. Hey, Joshua, thank you so much for taking the time to be on this call today. How you doing? Yeah, I'm angry. Just saying that. Instead. Hey, Jonathan, congratulations for showing up. Or Joshua. Sorry, your names are so close together, Joshua, congratulations for showing up. I'm curious, what led you to reach out and raise your hand and show up for this today? Right? And then he's gonna say, Oh, well, you know, I raised my hand because of XY and Z, right? And it should snap him out of it. But if it doesn't, if he's still irritated, you just want to say, Hey, listen, I'm sensing some irritation, some frustration with you, this call for you is for you. There's some reason that you decided to schedule this time with us. And if you give me a little bit of breathing room, my commitment to you is, this will be the most 45, the most powerful 45 minutes you could spend in service of blank and then insert your value statement. So another important pieces, if you're doing these strategy sessions in b2b, and these calls are either set up by a sales development rep, or or they're set up in some way through
some sort of Calendly link, you've got to set the standard out of the gate. Alright, so here's a real important nugget for you. Whether it's SDR out of the gate, you want to set the standard of this call. And the standard of this call is you've got to take whatever you
Were software your program your product does, and not articulate what it does. But what's the most important outcome? So for me, when we're setting up one of these strategy calls, the standard is this, my commitment to you is, this will be the best call you have all year to grow your sales results. Now imagine that standard. So from SDR or Calendly. Link, that seed is planted with this guy. So now he's not showing upset. He's like, wow, what about the stones on this guy? I gotta show up just to see what this value is. If you really want to knock his socks off the night before you have your scheduled Strategy Session, take this bad boy, the phone and Video TEXT. Hey, Joshua, I see we're we're scheduled tomorrow morning at 1030. I just wanted to put a face to the name. I'm looking forward to our call and coming through on my commitment to you that this will be the best call you've had all year to grow your business. barring an emergency, I'm going to be there if something comes up on your end and you need to reschedule please let me know here. So again, much like objections, or overcoming someone's anger is the pre empting. Right? It's putting that value up front. So they're compelled to show up in their best possible way. And then ultimately, if they show up, and they're mean, and you say, Hey, if you give me a little bit of breathing room, and they're still mean, you gotta let them go. Just Hey, you know what, it doesn't feel like this is the right time. I'm happy to reschedule at a time when we can get clear on what matters most to you. In the meantime, I'm gonna give you this time back and give me this time back to serve someone who is ready to explore how to help themselves. Yeah, that's fair enough. Good. Another good question here too, I think dovetails with that. I mean, you maybe maybe you've already sold it in a way Alfonso asked about the customer that seems just tepid. They're not that interested. But they haven't said no to you just yet. He's asking, do you recommend that you just straight out ask him? Hey, I'm feeling a lack of interest from your end? Could you share with me why?
Yeah, I mean, that's Alfonso sorry, the print is so small in mind. That's exactly it instead of like, in the old school, uninvolved way, we have a tendency to build those to miss the signs. So if somebody is distracted looking your way or or they're not present, or they're not really like, be the human that you would, in your primary relationship, in a in a in rapport, in a connected way is to say, Hey, I'm feeling a lack of interest or presence on your end is, is has something come up? Or is there something that that I've done to upset you in some way? So rather than guess at it or, or worse yet, blow past it, Alfonso, you're spot on? I don't I don't know what else to say. That's exactly what you should do that. That is evolved relationship approach to do it. Love it? Well, we'll take a little extra time with some q&a, just because we had our front end go the way that it went. If Yeah, we've got some good additional objections, we asked folks to share those.
Jonathan Fischer 48:15
We are still considering options. We need to discuss with leadership. So sounds like we're and this is so common when you're trying to sell b2b, especially if it's enterprise and above in terms of size, who are all the stakeholders? And sometimes, they just it feels like they flat out lie to you. They I mean, they're not you're probably they're probably not, they're probably but they're not thinking about the way you are right? You for your job to get done. You know, you may need to have six or eight people involved. They're thinking about the two or three that they work with every day.
Neal Tricarico 48:49
You know, this could be for some sort of a software platform or services, engagement, whatever it might be. So this is a big one, a Marla is a Marlin. And I appreciate you sharing that. So how would you address that deal? Great, great question. I really love this. So there's there's two aspects to this question. We're still considering other options. And we need to discuss with leadership. So we always want to be thinking about proactively what could we have done in advance to preempt this situation? So yes, in enterprise sales, there are multiple decision makers. But when you set the standard, like we spoke about earlier, that this is going to be the best call you've had all year. INSERT statement that transforms your decision makers life that gets them gets them to the table. So you have to do whatever it takes in advance of this sales interaction, to gather all the stakeholders in one place and sometimes again, without understanding the software or the setup or anything like that.
You can't do that. But sometimes that means holding such a standard that says, We're worried that you're not going to build value around your solution or make the offer until everybody's there. That's a business decision. Right? But But ultimately, when when you and your sales team and the strategy itself holds the standard that says, not only is our product or service so valuable, but how we choose to enroll clients is so valuable that all the stakeholders have to participate. We don't do RFPs we don't present to anyone short of the decision maker. That's a different game. So yeah, that's that's a business decision. And then the the other options Park I could address or you say some Jonathan, well, I was going to actually I think the whole thing about having additional stakeholders needed.
Aranda has brings up this issue and folks in b2b sales like this a lot, we review for approval, the next meeting, which what's the next meeting like this? You know, you're talking maybe probably you think you've got who you need, or you're not sure about that right now. Yeah. So the meeting. So my first instinct is I want to sell myself into that meeting. Right. And you know what you say to that? How do you deal with that? Oh, cool. I don't want to leave him hanging on the other question real quick. It's a quick salt. We're looking at other options. The question there is, I'm curious, what would you need to know that would compel you to take action now that would be so valuable, it would supersede looking at other options? So I would definitely ask that question as it relates to other options. And then that this is part two, again, we need to review for approval in the next meeting. Yeah, I'm not entering this meeting without understanding what the overall approval processes so much in the same way, we ask, just suppose were able to handle that objection, would you be willing to proceed? I am knowing before I'm getting into my picture presentation, all of the steps for approval, right? So so I know ahead of time, okay, you're going to present to this team. And then it's going to go to the next team for approval. So I'm putting together all of my pieces, so that I'm like, Okay, so who
am I able to attend the final approval meeting? No, you're not, it's going to be a decision that's based on your presentation with us and the proposal you send over. Okay, now I have all the information. So I'm going to do my very best to get into to let them know our process works with me ultimately being involved in the approval meeting. But if I can't, what I'm doing to at the precedent meeting, is I'm delivering it in such a way that I'm delivering it to the approval table, while speaking to the folks in this way. And then making the compromise or concession for it going to the approval meeting is that I'm sending the proposal as a video. I like that. And the great news is for that approval team, they can watch the video faster, and I speak pretty fast. So they could probably get me to 1.25. Then I'm sending the proposal in a video via
I'm blocking out it now. But you've got to send it in one where you can see whether they've watched it. Yeah, you have to take ownership, everybody of the sales process these questions, puts you in a reactive mode. So you'll notice most of my answers are about what are you doing strategically, instead of playing checkers and moving against their move, you're playing chess that you know, the moves three ahead. So even if you can't be at the table, you're setting the rules of engagement to put your best foot forward. And that ultimate approval tip, perfect spot to end it there. I mean, we've got a lot more we could keep going for probably another half an hour, but appreciate the audience engagement. And we tried a little bit of an experiment on this episode. And I'm gonna say it's been a pretty good success. And, Neil, I appreciate you challenging us to kind of up our game on the show. And Brother, you offered a ton of value to our audience that's most important of all. So thank you for that.
Jonathan Fischer 54:20
Thank you. You're welcome. And I hope to see you all you know, please download that script. And what an honor to interact with your audience directly. I appreciate you Jonathan, wishing everybody a great week. All right. Thanks a lot. And a great big thank you to our sponsor overpass.com. If you need to hire STRS Quickly, go check them out. It's free to set it up. You'll be amazed at how easy and cost effective it really is go to overpass.com. And for all of us here who produced the show. Thank you so much for being part. Bring a friend. We're here every Friday on LinkedIn for LinkedIn live. We're gonna see that next time. That's gonna do it for now. Take care everybody
